LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The annual World of Concrete trade show has returned to Las Vegas for the second time in seven months.
The construction trade show began Tuesday and runs through Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
More than 60,000 contractors and distributors in the concrete industry typically attend the annual show in January. The show’s organizers estimated on its website that 1,500 exhibitors are taking part in this week’s show.
Organizers say they are following local health guidelines, including Nevada’s mask mandate in public spaces regardless of vaccination status.
This year's convention features the Spec Mix Bricklayer 500. Teams are challenged to build the best and largest 26-foot-long brick wall with the fewest errors.
Watch the Spec Mix Bricklayer 500, a bricklaying competition at World of Concrete:
The convention also features 3D home printing. The printer builds dream homes from the ground up!
The entire printing process only requires the help of about three people and will take less than a month once the machine is all set up.
Architects start by creating a digital file of a house design and layer by layer, the machine deposits concrete to build up the house in 3 dimensions.
“3D construction printing is crazy because it is 3D printing but just at a much larger scale. In our case, instead of using plastic which is used for the smaller household size printers, we use concrete or motor solutions which are very resilient that you can actually live in,” said Philip Lumd-Nielsen, the co-founder of COBOD
Experts say the 3D printing process slashes production costs and addresses the supply chain issues we’re currently experiencing.
