A Japanese contractor has employed robots to help complete a major project.

With an ageing workforce and a shortage of labor in the nation’s construction industry, the Obayashi Corporation has enlisted the assistance of automated robots to build a concrete dam in Mie Prefecture in Japan. Due for completion in March 2023, the dam will stand at 84 metres high and 334 metres wide.

Automation will be key throughout the construction process. Cranes pouring the concrete to form the initial body of the dam will be controlled under the guidance of remote office computers. In addition, Obayashi has also developed machinery that brushes down any uneven layers that may appear during the course of the dam’s construction.

According to Akira Naito, head of Obayashi’s dam technology unit, building time for Obayashi’s projects may eventually be cut by 30% due to the introduction of these machines.

“By transferring expert techniques to machines, we’re able to analyse what was once implicit knowledge,” said Naito.

Japanese contractors are no strangers to automation as Kajima Corp have already produced self-driving dump trucks and bulldozers that are able to operate 24 hours a day if necessary.