Labour-starved Hong Kong construction sites experiment with robots, drones to get work done faster with less manpower
- Ageing construction workforce pushes government architects to test hi-tech methods on worksites
- Robots being used for piling, moving heavy loads, while drones check monuments for defects
Hong Kong government architects are experimenting with robotic technology to cut building time and find ways around a looming labour shortage in the city’s construction industry.
The Architectural Services Department has begun using robots to cut the tops of piles used in foundation work and deliver heavy materials on worksites.
It has also started using drones that fly above and around heritage buildings maintained by the department, to check for defects that need to be repaired.
“Harnessing innovation technology is the trend. If we find more robots or techniques that can be applied in construction work, we would like to adopt them,” department director Winnie Ho Wing-yin said at a recent press briefing.
Piling work involves driving structural beams deep into the ground, and their tops – known as pile heads – are usually trimmed manually with flame and gas, which carry the risk of eye injury and skin irritation for workers.
Since last November, the department has been using a robotic method involving compressed gas and high heat to cut and weld steel piles in mainland China for a project in the New Territories.
It helped shorten construction time by 55 days for a community health centre coming up in Hong Kong’s North district.
Michael Li Kiu-yin, the department’s project director, said some schemes needed many workers, but Hong Kong’s ageing construction workforce lacked new blood.
“We need to go with the times and robotic methods could be a solution to the looming labour shortage,” he said.
The Construction Industry Council forecast in 2018 that the city would be short of 5,000 to 10,000 skilled workers this year.
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Safety is also an issue, as the construction sector recorded the highest number of fatalities and worksite accident rates in the city, even as the total number of industrial incidents declined over the last decade.
The total came down from a high of 13,658 in 2011 to 7,202 in 2020, but the construction sector alone accounted for 2,532 accidents in 2020 and 2,947 in 2019. There were 25 industrial accident deaths last year, most of them on construction sites.
To save on using workers to move heavy loads, some sites have begun using automated delivery robots equipped with light detection and ranging (Lidar) scanners.
Workers use a mobile device to control the robot, which moves along a preset route carrying up to 80kg of materials at a time.
Another innovation the department is trying out is a robot that can clean water tanks, saving workers from having to enter confined spaces.
Ho said his team was in touch with the Water Supplies Department and hoped to introduce the robot in a pilot scheme this year.
Paul Lau Cheuk-kit, the department’s senior property services manager, said it had begun using drones to inspect heritage buildings that had been declared monuments.
The department maintains about 40 monuments owned by the government, most of which have Chinese architecture featuring roofs made of ceramic tiles.
“We need to erect bamboo scaffolds for workers to climb up and check the roofs, which is time-consuming and often difficult,” he said. “It would be much easier with a drone.”
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Four historic buildings, including Tai Fu Tai Mansion, a 19th century residence in Yuen Long, and Sam Tung Uk Museum, a 200-year-old Hakka walled house in Tsuen Wan, have been inspected by drones under a pilot programme started in 2020.
By examining video footage from the flying drones, the department is able to spot major defects that need fixing.
Lau said such drones would be used at more heritage sites.
