W
ith an eye on boosting productivity and cost efficiency, improving safety, managing labor shortages, and improving sustainability, the construction industry is continuing to ramp up its adoption of new and emerging technologies in 2023 and beyond.
Te growing use of robotics, drones, augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR), prefabrication, autonomous machinery, cloud-based workflows, and building information modeling (BIM) that integrates geographic information systems (GIS) are just a few of the myriad technologies that are being leveraged to improve project outcomes and workflows. A recent survey by
KPMG, the “2023 Global Construction Survey,” found a continued up- tick in technology adop- tion by engineering and construction firms, with 81% of respondents say- ing their organizations have adopted or are starting to adopt mobile platforms, up from 69% in 2017. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they were either adopting or just starting to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), in the form of digital twins, “smart” con- struction equipment, data and document management and for enhanced safety and communication. AGC of America and Sage released another survey, the “2023 Construction
Alan Sanoja Mike Grzanowski
Hiring and Business Outlook,” in which they reported that between a quarter and a third of respondents said they planned to increase their spending on assorted technologies this year, while the majority said their investment would remain the same as last year.
Robotics, Prefabrication on the Rise In its ranking of the biggest construction technology trends for 2023, Trimble Construction named the growing use of robotics to address labor shortages as number one, citing a recent forecast that projected investment in construction robotics would increase from $99.7 million in 2022 to $242.4 million by 2030. Many AGC of California member companies are also embracing this trend. Among them is specialty contractor Daley’s Drywall & Taping, Inc., which has made significant investment in Canvas and Dusty Robotics for its drywall finishing and layout work. (See story on page 20.) Some member companies are forming alliances with technology startups to benefit their projects, such as the partnership that Mortenson forged with San Francisco-based startup Built Robotics. Mortenson has utilized the auton- omous heavy equipment technology developed by Built Robotics on several renewable energy projects, including at least one in California. Along with robotics, prefabrication and modular construction is another
area seeing rapid growth. An industry report by Dodge Data & Analytics and partner organizations found that increasingly shorter project schedules and
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