Alquist 3D has completed its second concrete 3D printing project for Walmart, adding a
5,000-square-foot expansion to a store in Huntsville, Alabama. The new structure will serve as an extension of the store’s grocery pickup area.Construction firm FMGI served as the general contractor for the project, following their previous collaboration with Alquist 3D on a Walmart facility in Tennessee. The Tennessee project, standing just under 20 feet tall, is noted as the tallest commercial 3D-printed seismic-ready structure in the United States.
The Alabama construction utilized two RIC M1 Pro 3D concrete printers, with materials supplied by Sika USA and pumping services from MAI International. A five-person crew completed the printing process in seven days, including setup time.The project demonstrated several efficiency gains in construction.
The construction timeline was reduced by three to four weeks compared to traditional methods, while material waste was kept below 4 percent.RIC, the printer manufacturer, noted potential areas for future improvement. “There’s more to be accomplished; engineering and design optimization, material cost coming down with volume, not to mention, we are operating only about 50% of the current printer performance,” the company stated on social media.
My Thoughts 💭
Not too bad. Saved about a month of time but it would be nice to see a cost comparison. I assume the traditional method would have been cheaper. A 4% reduction in construction waste is underwhelming. But congrats to Walmart for trying something new but I’m still not convinced that 3D printing will disrupt construction