AGING POPULATION AND SMART CONSTRUCTION

[Anchor Lead]

Construction sites where human expertise has been a dominant factor are turning smart these days, increasingly incorporating technology. It's part of an experiment to prepare against the decreasing population. But smart construction is also gaining points in terms of efficiency. Take a look.

[Pkg]

An engineer operating an excavator suddenly stops the machine and looks for someone.

[Soundbite] "Chief!"

He wants to check whether the ground that's been dug up matches the design plan.

[Soundbite] "I think you need to dig to the side. (Alright.)"

Eventually, some soil goes back into the hole. Smart technology is being introduced to reduce such trials and errors on the construction site. For the first time in Korea, 5G and augmented reality technologies are applied in this field. A drone flies up 60 meters high and completes taking measurements in just 5 minutes. The computer then immediately draws up a design blueprint which is delivered to each equipment to calculate the amount of work that needs to be carried out. There's no need for human verification as the calculated figures sufficiently indicate details such as the volume of soil and the angles. Using the data, machines can also operate on their own.

[Soundbite] YANG JAE-JUN(CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER) : "I had to drive and also operate the device but now with smart features, I only need to drive while the device works on its own."

Based on this experiment, it took six days to build a 260 meter road using existing methods but only 4 days when smart construction was introduced.

[Soundbite] OH YUN-SEOK(KOREA INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY(KICT)) : "The number of construction workers continue to decrease and those with expertise are aging. Turning to automation and smart technology is inevitable."

In response to Korea's rapidly aging and decreasing population, the government aims to commercialize smart construction technologies by the year 2030.