Companies turn to digital engineering, modular technology, drones to address challenges posed by the pandemic

The unprecedented pace at which the construction industry faced disruptions to the supply chain and workforce due to the pandemic is pushing companies and contractors to look at agile and flexible construction technologies with renewed vigour.

“The COVID 19 pandemic has accelerated an overdue transformation of the construction landscape,” said Riad Bsaibes, President and CEO, Amana Investments, alluding to a ‘paradigm shift’ in the construction ecosystem towards “agile and flexible construction methodologies.”

The pandemic has forced the construction industry to re-assess its halting pace of adaptation of innovative technologies.

“In a way, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise,” said Mitchel Hanna, Group General Manager at Speed House, while agreeing that the industry is opening up more towards offsite, modular construction model.

A Laing O’Rourke spokesperson said the company uses different technologies to complement mitigation measures against the current pandemic.

“Technology that is already embedded in the way we deliver our projects, such as digital engineering platforms, continue to deliver efficiencies,” said the spokesperson for the UK-headquartered construction and engineering company, which has a prominent presence in the Gulf region.

He said they had seen an increased uptake of offsite manufacture to reduce on-site attendance and maintain social distancing and reliance on virtual attendance of the client and design team for factory inspections and witnessing of factory performance tests.

“These approaches are becoming embedded in our way of working, and it will be interesting to measure how each approach continues in the future,” the spokesperson said.

 

 

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PROJECTS: Construction industry turns pro-technology amid the pandemic | ZAWYA MENA Edition