Embarking on Development of a Next-generation Tunnel Building System that Utilizes IoT and AI Technologies

Shimizu Corporation (President: Kazuyuki Inoue) is embarking on the development of Shimizu Smart Tunnel, a next-generation tunnel building system that uses the latest ICT, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), and other technology to improve productivity and ensure better safety in response to the projected retirement of a large number of highly skilled technicians in the future. The company will invest 2 billion yen in the project. The system will be built in stages, beginning with development of the underlying technology. Shimizu plans to complete the entire system by 2020.

Securing new employees and improving productivity are urgent issues as concern mounts over the retirement of a large number of skilled technicians. Because improving productivity is key to improving the treatment of workers through better wages, more days off, and other benefits, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) is promoting the introduction of “i-Construction,” the core of which is the use of ICT in all activities. Earth-moving work has been at the forefront of i-Construction initiatives, but its use is expected to expand in various types of applied engineering projects in the future, such as paving, dredging, bridges, and tunnels. Meanwhile, greater improvement in safety rather than in productivity alone has become an important issue because the decline in the number of serious accidents has come to a standstill, particularly in mountain tunnel construction. In light of these circumstances, Shimizu will work to develop a next-generation tunnel building system aimed at dramatically improving both productivity and safety through the use of the latest technology in mountain and shield tunnel construction.

In developing this system we will aim for a higher level of safety management, which affects production efficiency. To accomplish this, we will introduce the concept of a supportive protection system that will detect human errors through sensing technology and Safety 2.0, a system in which workers work alongside AI-equipped construction machinery in harmony. The combination of collaborative work of humans and machines at the job site, the collection of information on work environment, and real-time feedback of guidance information to the job site based on AI analysis will enable the creation of an innovative tunnel building system that will take both productivity and safety to the next level. We will target substantial reduction in the number of workers and labor required by also using the sensing technology to quantify the expert knowledge of the skilled technicians, and automate operation of construction machinery via AI.

Examples of underlying technology for this system include advanced technology for monitoring the condition of the ground and cutting face, assisting with work on the face and in the tunnel, and managing information on execution for mountain tunnels, and AI control models that replicate the actions and movements of machinery operated by highly skilled operators for shield tunnels. We aim to improve productivity and safety at tunnel job sites while introducing these technologies to actual construction in stages, and believe that this will contribute to the construction of high-quality social infrastructure that will protect the lives and safety of the public.