3D Printed Buildings Have Their Limits, Walmart Discovered

A new Walmart expansion project shows that 3D printing is not as efficient or cost-saving as traditional construction techniques.  

While the building trade has watched the emergence of structures made with 3D printing machines with some trepidation, the recent example of its use for a new Walmart structure seems to indicate it is not going to replace conventional buildings anytime soon. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that when Walmart chose 3D printing for an 8,000-square-foot addition to an Athens, TN store, the project not only ran weeks behind schedule but when the final costs were added up the bill was “roughly the same as traditional construction.”

The report said “working outdoors in Tennessee’s summer heat and high humidity proved to be a problem…” after construction crews contended with finicky material and clogged hoses.”

“There’s a number of things that we’ve learned,” Patrick Callahan, chief executive of Alquist 3D, the company that was doing the project for Walmart. The Journal noted at least one residential project employing 3D technology under construction in Texas but reported that “few commercial real-estate projects have been completed using 3D printing, in part because the technology hasn’t proven to be cheaper and faster than traditional construction.”

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