Confronted with Japan’s chronic construction labour shortage, contractor Obayashi is building a dam almost entirely with robots.
Eighty-four metres in height, and 334 m in length, the concrete dam is being constructed in Mie Prefecture, on the southeast coast of Japan’s main island.
Remote-controlled tower cranes pour concrete into 15 m2 partitions, to build the dam up in layers.
Robots polish the surfaces of each slab to create a watertight union with subsequent ones, and robots raise the formwork as the structure gains height.
Construction is scheduled for completion in March 2023.
