Combatting the COVID-19 pandemic: Promising technologies construction industry players could employ

The construction industry is part of the secondary sector, which focuses on the process of making buildings, building tunnels, bridges, and repairing structures.³ One major reason why the construction industry is one of the most vital sectors in the world’s economy is because it employs a huge amount of the world’s total labour force - for instance, statistics have shown that the construction industry makes up 9.36% of Malaysia’s total labour force.⁴

With all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and hybrid working taking place in Malaysia due to the pandemic, the different players in the construction industry are in an unfavourable position. The different professionals involved in the construction industry - architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and workers - are affected by one another, similar to that of a snowball effect. Although dissimilar professionals are responsible for their own part of the job, every work is tightly linked with each other - architects use designing software like BIM/AutoCAD and create a blueprint; civil engineers work with blueprints for construction, etc. Clearly, the SOPs and hybrid working makes it much more difficult for them to work together face-to-face.

Figure 1: Demonstrating the potential of 5G network technology. Image source: Forbes

Living in the 21st century, we are now tapping into the 5G network era.⁵ 5G network can reach up to 100 times faster than the 4G network, which shows significant advance to construction industry players as more advanced equipment and software can be built to minimise the lag between the time of input and that of output. The 5G network technology can also encourage the use of Building Informative Modelling (BIM) alongside Artificial Intelligence (AI), Additive Manufacturing (AM), and LiDAR Technology. Let’s go over how these technologies are used and could be used in the construction industry.

BIM technology is particularly useful for architects and engineers to create 3D digital models of their constructions to predict the potential construction hazards according to the design. They can then analyse the hazards and prevent them by simply adjusting the design in the software using advanced calculations. With BIM or the blueprint, contractors in the construction site can also lead their teams safely through every step in the construction workflow and document the process to meet the safety regulations. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can also come into play here in construction sites, where it can offer self-driving construction machinery to perform tedious and repetitive tasks. This allows human workers to focus on things that require a bit more brainpower, or just to focus on other tasks - promoting productivity and efficiency.

Figure 3: Demonstrating what AM or 3D printing could perform. Image source: Autodesk

Apart from software that construction industry players could use, they could also utilise drones and LiDAR technology. LiDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method that uses pulsed lasers to measure the distance from the sensor to the Earth.⁷ With that being said, before the construction industry players start their work, certain people could be responsible for controlling autonomous drones and using LiDAR to capture the shape of the terrain - whether it’s uneven, smooth, or protruding ground - to allow architects and engineers to perfectly understand and analyse the shape of the terrain, and therefore evaluate the type of rocks and soils present in the specific location. This helps them to come up with better designs and aids the construction process after identifying and analysing the soil type and how to tackle it.

Figure 4: Demonstrating what LiDAR lasers can ‘see’. Image source: Wired.co.uk

To sum up, there are countless ways to use our current technology to our advantage in order to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as by carrying out the aforementioned examples. In lieu of simply using the current technology we already possess, Malaysian scientists, companies, and government could work together to create new technology. What matters isn’t how long a revolutionary invention will take, or how grand it will be— but instead the very fact that we dream and we desire to create something new and innovative.