World’s largest 3D printed neighborhood nears completion – National & International News – THU 8Aug2024

World’s largest 3D printed neighborhood nears completion.

Trump now says he will debate Harris on ABC, Sept. 10.

World’s largest 3D printed neighborhood nears completion

3D-printing firm ICON is nearing completion of its 100th home in the Wolf Ranch community in Georgetown, TX, near Austin. Construction at Wolf Ranch began in November 2022. According to the company, this will be the largest 3D-printed neighborhood in the world. They can also be made with materials that make them more climate resilient and durable than wood-framed houses. The material is more resistant to water, termites, mold, and extreme weather conditions.

Companies all over the world are experimenting with 3D-printed construction (sometimes called “additive construction”) as a potential solution to alleviating a global housing prices. Compared with traditional home construction, 3D printing is less expensive, faster, requires much less labor and produces far less waste, making them more affordable for homebuyers.

Interestingly, the very first 3D printed construction was pioneered all the way back in 1939 by William Urschel. Urschel built the first 3D printed home in Valparaiso, IN, using a patented machine with a manually-fed extruder. You can see some footage of an Urschel building being constructed in this informative video.

Construction at Wolf Ranch

At Wolf Ranch, the 3-4 bedroom homes range from 1,500-2,000 square feet. Printing the wall system takes about three weeks for each home, while the foundation and metal roofs are installed traditionally. The prices of these homes range from $450,000-$600,000.

ICON uses its 45-foot wide Vulcan printer to lay down a mixture of concrete powder, water, sand and other additives layer-by-layer according to a preprogrammed design. The layer printing gives the walls a corduroy effect which can then be plastered if desired.

Homeowners say their home also has excellent insulation against the heat as well as sound insulation. They also feel confident it would withstand most tornados. However, there is one drawback. Given the composition of the walls, wi-fi signals do not pass easily from one room to another. ICON recommends a mesh router system which broadcast a signal from multiple points in the home.

The total Wolf Ranch development will comprise 2500 homes, with the 100 homes printed by ICON making up one of its subdivisions.

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Trump now says he will debate Harris on ABC, Sept. 10

After Vice President Kamala Harris replace President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket for the 2024, former President Trump had indicated he may not adhere to a previously scheduled Presidential debate on ABC in September. Trump instead demanded that another debate be held on Fox News, which he considers friendlier turf. Harris had said she would appear for the ABC debate whether Trump appeared or not.

It appears Trump has now agreed to debate Harris on ABC after all on September 10. He also said he has agreed to debates on Fox News on Sept. 4 and NBC on Sept. 25. Harris has agreed to the September 10 debate but it’s not clear whether she will agree to the other two.

Before Biden bowed out of the campaign, most polls were showing him behind Trump, especially in key swing states. That was the case even before Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump in June that ultimately led to Biden ending his re-election run. Now, less than three weeks into her campaign, most polls show that Harris has closed the gap with Trump, including in the swing states. Some polls show her slightly leading, though her leads are still within the margin of error. Trump is now facing a much more competitive race than he was this time last month.

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