Construction field operations and automated equipment

Abstract

This paper will present the panel's observations of Japanese construction firms' field operations and fielded technologies, and will briefly discuss the development of automated equipment by and for the larger construction firms in Japan. Recognizing that one week is far too short a time to visit even a small percentage of the construction projects underway by the major Japanese contractors' firms, this paper includes information gathered from selected presentations and papers delivered by others: Japanese, US, and European. Panel members of the JTEC visited high-rise buildings and heavy civil projects such as airport and bridge construction on this visit to Japan. There were no visits to electric power production or process facilities under construction. Likewise, the corporate research centers visited were sponsored by firms which emphasized engineering and construction in the high-rise and heavy civil areas. However, the research certainly has applicability to other areas of design and construction. Throughout this chapter references will be made to six major Japanese construction firms known as the Big Six. This group consists of Shimizu, Kajima, Taisei, Takenaka, Ohbayashi, and Kumagai Gumi. These six firms have been ranked among the largest construction firms in Japan, with the 1989 contract volumes listed in Table 1 (Ref. [3]). These firms were also the prime contacts in Japan for project site and contractor laboratory visits and have had previous contacts with many of the panel members.