The use of data is transforming the construction industry, and 5G will accelerate this process.

Construction is on the verge of a pandemic and telecoms-inspired revolution that will change the way the industry does business all the way from the site to the boardroom, according to a growing number of international experts.

The industry has long grappled with thin margins, low investment and poor productivity. The Covid-19 pandemic has stimulated many companies to take a renewed look at their practices, a process that is being given further impetus by the ongoing expansion of 5G mobile services, and the impending ending of the old 2G and 3G networks.

How much quicker is 5G?

In simple terms, 5G will deliver huge increases in download speeds coupled with low latency, opening the door to increased innovation all the way along construction鈥檚 often complex supply chains.

One industry leader heavily involved in such debates is Dale Sinclair, EMEA Director of Innovation for AECOM, the American multinational engineering giant.

Sinclair is an expert in the delivery of large-scale projects and sits on the board of the UK鈥檚 influential Construction Industry Council, the representative forum for professional bodies, research organisations and specialist business associations in the construction industry.

鈥淲e are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in the construction industry. We have been constructing buildings for thousands of years and the process has not fundamentally changed 鈥� so change is tough, but it is coming,鈥� says Sinclair.

鈥淢any players are just looking at the technology to optimise the way they do things currently. But now more people are thinking about how we can do things very differently.鈥�

Dale Sinclair, EMEA Director of Innovation for AECOM. Sinclair believes that pivotal to the sort of structural changes he is talking about will be how the industry uses data, a development that 5G鈥檚 speed will accelerate.

The growth of 5G is not the only reason for such a development, but it is an important piece of the jigsaw and will help to drive changes in behaviour.

BIM Models and the 3D experience 
鈥淔or example, we have been doing BIM models for a while, but we still produce drawings. But instead, let鈥檚 look at the customer experience here 鈥� can we offer the client a 3D experience or detailed slices of a model?鈥�

Sinclair believes that pivotal to the sort of structural changes he is talking about will be how the industry uses data, a development that 5G鈥檚 speed will accelerate. 鈥淧eople are really beginning to get the value of data for the whole life cycle of a project,鈥� he comments.

With the next generation of buildings, the data will be available on how they were planned and built, how they are used, and how they can be best demolished and recycled. All of which has huge implications, not just for the industry鈥檚 efficiency, but also for issues such as maximising sustainability.

鈥淐ontractors and their suppliers are using more and more data in the cloud and the benefit from faster connectivity is that it facilitates changes of behaviour,鈥� said Sinclair, and he is far from a lone voice when it comes to this opinion.

At the end of last year, US international management consultants McKinsey published a paper called 鈥楻ise of the platform era: the next chapter in construction technology鈥�.

The paper represented the views of McKinsey鈥檚 Private Equity & Principal Investors and Engineering Construction & Building Materials divisions and argued that the pandemic will accelerate changes that were already underway, especially in data-driven management of projects and companies.

鈥淭he Covid-19 pandemic has only served to provide additional urgency to the pre-existing productivity and data-visibility issues facing construction companies...further efficiencies will be unlocked with deeper integration of technology solutions directly on the job site and with predictive analytics leveraging data from connected teams and equipment,鈥� said the report.

鈥淏oth investors and the industry overall can create significant value by developing analytics and insights platforms that leverage the growing pool of inter- and intra-company data. These platforms will enable more proactive, data-driven management of both individual projects and companies overall.鈥�

The potential of 5G-oriented change has inspired a growing list of projects and trials as construction clients, contractors, OEMs and their suppliers alike all grapple with how to exploit the new possibilities.

Volvo Construction Equipment explores 5G
Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has been exploring the potential for 5G in construction by testing a remote-controlled wheeled loader. Volvo CE and its Swedish telecommunications partners Telia and Ericsson started the multi-year project 鈥� claimed to be the first industrial application of 5G 鈥� before the pandemic hit in mid-2019. It involves exploiting the speed and capacity of 5G to test the development of remote-controlled machines while finding out the real-world potential for autonomous solutions.

On a 25 hectare test site, a remote-controlled L180H wheeled loader is controlled from a simulator inside a tent about 100m away behind a concrete wall. The test track itself has a number of physical barriers, uphill and downhill tracks and rough terrain; all designed to mimic the real conditions of a construction site.

The idea was to iron out any problems, before expanding the trial to a larger number of machines with the aim of understanding in detail how 5G will work for industrial purposes when it is rolled out more widely.

The immediate impact is that 5G鈥檚 more reliable connectivity overcomes the delays that can hamper the previous iterations of remote-control technology, along with far better picture quality for the remote simulator.

The use of 5G will help the development of Doosan Infracore鈥檚 Concept-X, the world鈥檚 first unmanned automated and integrated control solution introduced by the OEM for construction, quarrying and mining sites. It can perform work unattended by having drones measure the workplace, automatically analyse the data, establish the work plan and transfer the data to machinery, such as excavators.

5G technology will help the development of dully autonomous equipment.

The use of 5G technology will aid the progress of this concept, which recently won a Gold Award at the International Forum Design (iF Design) Awards 2021 for its Concept-X Excavator design. One of only 75 entries to have won a Gold Award from a total of 10,000 put forward from 52 countries, the Concept-X Excavator was chosen by a 98-member jury.

In its statement accompanying the Gold Award announcement, the organisers, iF International Forum Design GmbH, the world鈥檚 oldest independent design organisation, said, 鈥淭his concept raises the bar and pushes the bounds of technology with an ambitious vision for the future of construction equipment.

鈥淯nmanned trucks and excavators supervised by drones introduce sci-fi systems and automotive styling to a conventional sector. The possibilities are endless: improved safety, productivity, precision and quality.鈥�

Impact of 5G

One of the many major contractors exploring 5G鈥檚 potential is the UK firm BAM Nuttall. The civil engineering contractor, a subsidiary of the Dutch Royal BAM Group, earlier this year joined a government-funded trial.

BAM Nuttall鈥檚 project is one of nine to receive funding as part of a 拢28.3 million (US$38.8 million) joint investment between the UK government and businesses to test how to seize and fully exploit the benefits of 5G.

BAM Nuttall will test 5G-powered cameras, drones and sensors at three Scottish construction sites, in Kilsyth, Glasgow and Shetland.

The project, called 5G AMC 2 (Accelerate, Maximise and Create for Construction) seeks to explore how 5G can enable the use of data to maximise productivity of construction processes and track assets.

Similar projects are running in many companies and countries around the world. In Australia, Taylor Construction has been trialling onsite 5G services with partners Cradlepoint, the leading technology firm, and telecommunications company Telstra.

China State Construction Engineering has been overseeing a 5G construction site that includes detailed monitoring of workers鈥� health and using AI to check if they are wearing masks or the right protective equipment.

Skanska鈥檚 DAQRI Smart Helmet trials
The UK arm of Swedish international contractor Skanska has conducted onsite trials of DAQRI Smart Helmets 鈥� professional industrial grade wearable technology that provides users with instant and relevant information, overlaid on their line of sight.

The helmet is wearable Augmented Reality (AR) technology, meaning it provides additional and intelligent information about the world around you, directly in your field of view. It is configurable and can utilise many different types of project data, expanding the possibilities for project teams and clients alike.

Skanska said the initial trial, which is now complete, helped them identify how to use VR and AR on site and that they would be working with more helmets and headsets in the near future.

To date, some in the industry have felt that such technological advances were only relevant to well-funded global engineering and design firms working on major projects, and not smaller contractors. However, a growing number of voices disagree. One is Robert Herman, a construction and property technology expert and CEO of California-based 3D mapping company REscan.

Robert Herman, CEO of California-based 3D mapping company REscan.

REscan digitises and streams the physical world starting with large commercial real estate portfolios, making spaces remotely viewable, editable, and ready for spatial computing applications.

鈥淕iven the near real-time monitoring possibility of 5G, projects will be delivered faster and risks mitigated better by having clear end-to-end visibility and better quality assurance,鈥� Herman said.

鈥淭he network standard will bring certain tech solutions within reach of SME contractors, for example visualisation using VR and AR will become highly accessible.鈥�

Herman also believes that the changes now being seen in construction would have happened anyway, with or without the pandemic.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it has anything to do with the pandemic directly. 5G development has been going on for quite some time 鈥� just like 6G development is already happening in the background 鈥� and it 鈥榡ust鈥� hit the mass market recently.

鈥淭here may be traces of the pandemic in the adoption but that, in my view, is more linked to the entire sector embracing remote solutions, be they IoT, collaboration, AR/VR and so on. To have a great user experience you need a stable and fast connection.鈥�

He adds that the 5G currently available is not the one everyone is waiting for 鈥� mmWave. The term mmWave refers to a specific part of the radio frequency spectrum between 24GHz and 100GHz, which has a very short wavelength. This section of the spectrum is little used, so mmWave technology will greatly increase the amount of bandwidth available and transfer of data.

The one major downside is that it can be blocked by concrete, steel and glass walls 鈥� it does not transition very well from indoors to outdoors, although there are ways round that.

鈥淭hough the high frequencies of 5G require a direct line-of-sight, 鈥榝ixed wireless鈥� will allow for cellular coverage within buildings and homes, without the use of cables or lines,鈥� Herman explains.

鈥淔ixed wireless antennae are placed on top of homes and buildings to communicate with nearby small cells or macrocell towers. While these fixed wireless antennae must maintain line-of-sight with the nearby cells, they are able to extend cellular coverage into homes and buildings.鈥�

Why will the network standard benefit SME contractors? 鈥淔irst of all, because the barrier to entry will come down 鈥� no longer do you need large upfront costs to provide services and SMEs can be more competitive. Second, because once there are clear standards it will help adoption.鈥�

5G digital revolution
Another firm excited at 5G鈥檚 pan-industry potential is communications provider UK Connect, whose clients include some of the UK鈥檚 most prestigious housebuilders.

PJ Farr, the company鈥檚 founder, said, 鈥淭he door is open for the construction industry to walk through. As technology advances, we are already seeing a shift in the way construction companies are now embracing a more efficient, sustainable and productive new way of working.

鈥淭he digital revolution is reimagining building sites. Construction鈥檚 near future promises self-driving vehicles and autonomous machinery, drones, 3D printing and AR gadgetry. All are designed to help build faster, with less manpower and fewer costly errors.鈥�

PJ Farr, UK Connect founder and managing director.

He continued, 鈥淚n a nutshell, 5G is smarter, faster and more efficient than the current 4G. This latest standard delivers three major elements: enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-low latency for time-sensitive applications, and the ability to connect massive amounts of IoT and rapid-capture solutions.

鈥淭hanks to high bandwidth, combined with 5G鈥檚 very low latency, the technology is set to improve data capture significantly across a host of project delivery processes.鈥�

He said that 5G will also improve the way site teams can view and update project data sets on smartphones, and will encourage further IoT integration with internet-connected sensors used on building sites in a wide variety of scenarios, from monitoring equipment to spotting health and safety issues.

Farr added that being able to more effectively capture and analyse data across a development鈥檚 life cycle will enable those in construction to make better real-time decisions and enable higher profit potential.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt these tech advancements are powering the next wave of digital transformation in our industry,鈥� he concluded.

There will, of course be hurdles to overcome. There are the difficulties posed by the fastest connections being hindered by materials such as concrete, glass and steel unless they have direct line of sight to the antennae.

There are the security concerns that have meant Huawei, the leading Chinese 5G player, has run into serious opposition in many parts of the world.

And then there is the view expressed by some industry leaders that an over-focus on great (but narrow) vertical innovations mean we miss the big picture and lose the opportunity to transform how construction as a whole does business and the chance to make dramatic improvements in productivity, margins and safety.

AECOM鈥檚 Dale Sinclair argues that the industry has an opportunity to embrace change like never before. Offsite manufacturing, VR headsets, robotics and AI delivering hazard warnings and safety checks could all have a huge impact.

鈥淧eople are searching for changes that will make a real difference,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淏ut the real challenge is to rethink how we work on site and how we use the data that will be available to us.鈥�