The Key to ICT Construction! Safety Management and Quality Improvement Achieved with ICT Construction Machinery

In recent years, the construction industry has rapidly adopted ICT construction machinery (construction equipment that utilizes information and communication technologies). While it is attracting attention for its effectiveness in improving productivity and addressing labor shortages, its significant benefits in "safety management" and "quality improvement" should not be overlooked. In fact, compared with other industries, the construction industry still has many occupational accidents, and with the aging and decline of skilled workers, variability in construction quality is also a concern. This article explains in detail how ICT construction machinery raises on-site safety and construction quality for site safety managers, quality managers, and executives interested in safety investments. Consider how balancing safety and quality is crucial as the key to successful ICT construction.

What are ICT construction machines, and why are they attracting attention?

ICT construction machines are construction machines equipped with ICT (information and communication technology) such as GPS, sensors, and 3D design data, and they have automatic control and guidance functions. Typical examples of ICT construction machines include hydraulic excavators (backhoes), bulldozers, and motor graders. These are mainly used in earthworks (excavation, embankment, and leveling of the ground) and are highly effective in road construction, land development, dam work, and so on. Specifically, it refers to a system in which position information systems and tilt sensors are installed on heavy equipment to support and automate operator control. Operators can work while viewing design surfaces and elevation information displayed on the machine monitor, and some models automatically adjust the movements of the blade or bucket via hydraulic control. This allows high-precision construction even by non-experts, leading to shorter work times and fewer human errors.

The reason ICT construction machines are drawing attention is the presence of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s "i-Construction" initiative. Launched in fiscal 2016, i-Construction advocates the full-scale use of ICT technology at construction sites. Traditionally, many manual steps were required—surveying → design → setting batter boards → construction → inspection → paperwork—but with ICT construction, drone surveying creates 3D terrain models, ICT construction machines perform automated construction based on that data, and post-completion 3D survey data streamlines inspection. In other words, ICT construction machines are not merely the high-tech upgrade of heavy equipment but are expected to revolutionize the entire construction process and serve as the key to dramatically improving safety, productivity, and quality.

Safety management benefits brought by ICT construction machines

Safety measures at construction sites are always the top priority. The introduction of ICT construction machines markedly improves on-site safety. The main points are as follows.

• Minimizing entry into hazardous areas: Because ICT construction machines utilize 3D design data, the situations where workers need to enter around heavy equipment to set batter boards or check elevations are greatly reduced. Reducing opportunities for proximity between machines and people lowers the risk of contact accidents. Surveying and completion checks can also be replaced by drones or remote measurement systems, reducing the need for people to work in dangerous locations. In the past, when signaling or surveying near heavy equipment, extremely careful communication with the operator was required, and minor miscommunications could lead to serious accidents. ICT construction eliminates the situations in which people work next to heavy equipment in the first place, thereby reducing near-miss incidents caused by communication errors and enabling safer operations.

• Preventing accidental operation and human error: ICT construction machines prevent operator mistakes through position tracking by GPS and sensors and automatic control functions. Guidance is displayed on the monitor, so appropriate excavation or fill amounts and slopes are always known, preventing mistakes such as over-excavation or over-filling due to misunderstandings or oversights. As a result, the risk of accidents such as landslides or damage to buried utilities is also reduced. In addition, because work can be performed while pre-identifying the location of underground buried objects on 3D design data, troubles where machinery contacts unseen obstacles are easier to avoid.

• Risk reduction through shorter work times: ICT construction machines increase construction speed through automation and greatly shorten work time. In one demonstration, approximately 40% reduction in work time and a reduction in personnel to about 2/3 compared with conventional methods were reported. Finishing work more quickly reduces the time people spend on site, lowering the likelihood of heatstroke or human errors during night work. When the schedule has slack, more time can be allocated to safety measures, and as a result, the overall safety level of the site improves.

By using ICT construction machines in this way, non-operator workers can be kept away from hazardous areas and the machines themselves can be operated precisely, embedding a “system that protects people” on the site. In fact, in conventional construction, there have been tragic accidents such as workers checking elevations during backhoe operations being struck by the machine. However, introducing ICT construction machines can fundamentally prevent such contact accidents between machines and people. ICT construction machines are therefore a highly effective means to reduce the risk of serious accidents and strengthen safety management.

How ICT construction machines improve construction quality

Next, let’s look at the benefits of ICT construction machines from the perspective of stabilizing and improving construction quality. For quality managers, ICT construction machines dramatically reduce the headaches of finish variability and rework.

• Uniform finishes independent of skill level: Conventional construction sometimes resulted in differences in finish depending on the operator’s skill. Veterans and newcomers could show errors of several percent to several cm (several in) in slope or finished elevation. With ICT construction machines, it is possible to perform data-driven construction at all times without relying on operator intuition or experience. For example, automatically controlling the blade’s height and angle according to 3D design data enables uniform, consistent finishes even by non-veterans. Quality variability due to operator skill differences is reduced, making it easier to meet consistent quality standards regardless of who operates the machine.

• High-precision construction and reduced touch-ups: ICT construction uses high-precision survey and design data, dramatically improving baseline construction accuracy. With smaller surveying errors and machine movements controlled to the millimeter level (mm), deviations from the design surface and excessive excavation or fill are suppressed. By minimizing human error and variation, the quality of the finished product stabilizes, and the number of inspection points flagged or touch-ups required is greatly reduced. Achieving the target precision from the first construction prevents schedule delays and additional costs from unnecessary rework, offering benefits in both quality and productivity. Furthermore, when constructed to the planned dimensions and slopes, the engineered performance—such as road drainage—will be secured as designed, contributing to improved original quality and durability of structures.

• Efficient quality control through digital data: Data from ICT construction machines is automatically recorded in the cloud, and the completed as-built surface can be visualized and checked in 3D with ease. This allows quality managers to remotely check progress and finishes without being on-site and to issue corrective instructions early if problems arise. Because multiple stakeholders can share data in real time, it also helps prevent oversights. Compared with relying solely on paper documents and visual inspections, more accurate and faster quality control is possible, leading to stabilized construction quality. In addition, 3D as-built data can be used directly as inspection materials, enabling accurate proof of quality while reducing cumbersome tasks like creating photo albums. Accumulated data also allows post hoc verification of the final shape and construction processes and can be used to improve future sites.

Thus, introducing ICT construction machines is expected to raise the baseline of construction quality and reduce variability. In the past, inexperienced operators sometimes over-excavated slopes and then had to backfill and rework the shaping, resulting in rework, but with ICT construction machines, work can be done to the designed slopes and elevations from the start, preventing such wasteful rework. Ensuring precision through machine control rather than relying on people enables even inexperienced young operators to deliver high-quality results, contributing to the resolution of skills transfer challenges. Reducing rework due to quality defects leads to overall project cost reductions and significant managerial benefits.

Ensuring safety and quality is the key to successful ICT construction

As we have seen, introducing ICT construction machines produces revolutionary effects on both safety measures and quality assurance. These “safety” and “quality” points are essential to keep in mind to make ICT construction successful. Blindly introducing the latest technology without thought can be counterproductive if it leads to frequent accidents or recurring quality problems. If a major accident occurs even after improving efficiency with ICT, construction will be forced to stop and schedules may be extended. If rework due to poor quality becomes frequent, the productivity gains may be nullified. Only when safety and quality are ensured can the true benefits of increased productivity and cost reduction be enjoyed over the long term.

For companies, improving safety and quality directly enhances on-site reliability and brand image. Companies that reduce occupational accidents and maintain stable construction quality earn higher evaluations from clients. Moreover, fewer accidents and rework reduce unnecessary spending and contribute to higher profit margins. It can truly be said that “investing in safety and quality leads to future profit.” Additionally, efficiency gains from ICT construction support work-style reforms. By reducing labor at the site, it becomes easier to implement a two-day weekend system, and with sufficient rest, employees’ concentration and safety awareness will likely improve.

Of course, to fully utilize ICT construction machines on site, sufficient training of site staff and proper operation are indispensable. Although there are initial costs and a learning curve at the introduction stage, these are expected to be fully recouped by returns in safety and quality (reduced industrial accidents and stabilized quality). Top management taking the lead in promoting ICT construction that emphasizes safety and quality will, in turn, lead to the success of a productivity revolution. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is expanding the scope of ICT-utilized projects year by year, and ICT construction is expected to become standardized in many public works in the future. Building a safe, high-quality construction system using ICT construction machines and digital technologies early on will be effective in strengthening competitiveness going forward.

For further safety and quality improvements: Utilizing simple surveying with LRTK

While ICT construction machines dramatically improve the safety and quality of the construction itself, on-site digital transformation (DX) does not stop there. By combining new digital tools such as simple surveying with LRTK, further effects can be expected. LRTK is a high-precision positioning system that can be used in conjunction with a smartphone, enabling single operators to perform surveys with centimeter-class accuracy (half-inch accuracy).

By using LRTK, surveying work that traditionally required multiple people can be completed safely and quickly by one person, and topographic data can be acquired from a safe distance even while heavy equipment is operating. For example, volumes of fill and cut (construction earth quantities) can be quickly calculated from high-precision point cloud data obtained by LRTK, enabling safe confirmation of as-built quantities. This makes rapid as-built checks and progress management possible on site, allowing immediate detection and correction of quality variations. Because surveying and inspection can be done without sending people into hazardous areas, there are significant safety benefits as well.

In this way, combining ICT construction machines with simple surveying using LRTK enables consistent digitalization and labor savings from construction through measurement and inspection. It helps further solidify on-site safety and quality management and contributes to building an efficient construction system without waste. Actively adopt the latest ICT technologies and tools and aim to create smart sites that realize “safety first, high-quality construction.”