Flax is a very useful crop, being used in everything from e-racers to campers. With concrete being such a major contributor of carbon emissions, a team led by the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is researching whether it could also be used as a greener alternative building material, and to this end has constructed a sensor-packed footbridge to prove its efficacy.

The project is named the Smart Circular Bridge and builds on previous research by TU/e. It involves a team of five universities, seven companies, and three municipalities, and is located in the city of Almere, the Netherlands. The bridge can be used by pedestrians and cyclists and spans 15 m (roughly 50 ft). It’s rated to safely hold the weight of up to 275 people at a time.

The build process for the main structure of the bridge is totally unlike constructing a standard bridge and involves the flax being laid on top of blocks of polyurethane, which lend the bridge its basic shape. A vacuum infusion process is carried out to remove all the air, with a resin then poured onto it all to hold the entire structure together. Finally, it’s left to cure for around a day or so.

The bridge’s decorative railings, meanwhile, were produced by robotically weaving flax fiber and are deliberately intricate, to underline the aesthetic and technical possibilities of flax.

Keep reading on NewAtlas.com