Modern Technologies in High Rise Building Construction

This article discusses the modern technologies used in high rise building construction, including mega truss seismic isolation, raster façade precast concrete system, automated welding system, Kone ultra rope, and BSB prefabricated construction process. It also explores the challenges facing high rise construction in the Australian construction industry, such as rising costs, quality control, reduced workplace productivity, shortages of skilled labor, capital supply constraints, safety onsite, and the long period of construction.

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Introduction
The construction of tall buildings has always been human desires despite the resources needed to
complete it. The construction of high rise employs the use of modern technologies to avoid
various challenges encountered in the construction industry for example high cost and the long
period of construction. These technologies include;
Mega truss seismic isolation
This type of technique is mostly applied in areas where an earthquake is greatly experienced
(Duncan, 2012, p. 76). The steel mega truss is used in supporting the center of the tall building
and it forms the roof of the mega columns below the belt truss. (Elleh, 2016, p. 186)
Fig 1: showing the use of mega truss seismic isolation structure
Raster Façade Precast Concrete System
To reduce the quantity of waste generated during construction, the cost of erecting the building,
increasing the standard of the building and reducing the opposing environmental impact in high
rise building can only be achieved by using the type of technique mentioned above as explained
by Mathew (2013). The advantages of this method include;

Advantages and Disadvantages of Raster Façade Precast Concrete construction
Advantages
 High building speed.
 Good quality control.
 Prestressing is easily done which can reduce the size and number of the structural
members.
 Rapid construction on site.
Disadvantages
 The error encountered is minimal.
 Difficult during connection.
 The usage of precast concrete cannot take place in two-way structural systems since the
size of the panel is limited.
 The building design will be affected by the repetition of forms.
 The lifting of the panels requires cranes.
 The flexibility of the building design is limited.
 Expensive and complex joints between the panels.
 Application of the panel on the site requires skilled workmanship.
 Regularly shaped buildings require economies of scale.
Automated welding system
According to Lynn (2011), the use of automated welding in the construction industry can provide
numerous gains in productivity and profitability during application. In semi-automatic welding,
the load is loaded manually by an operator into the welding fixture. Welding system may be

completely automated and can include robotic part, load and unload or have semi-automatic
capabilities. A fully automated welding can be equipped by robotic part, load and unload and a
mechanized programmable tool is used in automated welding to carry out both handling and
welding part, for example, gas metal arc welding (Holmes, 2007, p. 98).
The safety of workers is taken care of as well as the quality of work by using automated welding
system and it will enable construction operations to take place smoothly without interference.
The automation has various advantages in the construction industry which includes;
 It enhances quality and standardized products.
 It handles dangerous operations taken by employees
 It increases productivity and reduces the cost.
 It carries out labor tasks at hazardous locations, for instance, extensive height places.
 It promotes a good operating environment since workers are operating in a safe
environment.
Advantages of the automated welding system
 Better welding quality.
 Increased output is increased.
 Decreased scrap are decreased
 The cost of labor is reduced
 Materials are efficiently used.
 Safety among workers is improved since certain works are handled by robots.
 Shorter workweeks for labor and reduced factory lead times.

Disadvantages of an automated welding system
 The welding system needs a high amount of capital.
 A regular maintenance is required compared to the manual one.
 The degree of flexibility is lower.
 It can lead to unemployment
 It causes the displacement of workers.
Kone Ultra Rope
This is the latest technology used in high rise building. This technique improves reliability,
durability, and efficiency for the unrivaled elevator. And also improves the performance of the
elevator. This technique is beneficial since it eliminates the disadvantages of using steel ropes
and it allows 1000 meters to be covered by the future elevator.
BSB prefabricated Construction Process
Prefabricated construction involves assembling numerous mechanisms of a structure at a
manufacturing site and transporting those sub-assemblies to the location of the construction site.
This type of construction technique is sometimes referred to as a low-end and mass-produced
mode of construction. (Harvey, 2010, p. 98). Prefabricated construction provides numerous
benefits to the construction process for example quality of construction.
Advantages and Disadvantages of prefabricated construction
a) Eco-friendly
Modular construction is normally much-admired for efficient energy as well as supportable
construction. Extra materials that result into increase in waste is encountered in the case of

traditional construction methods and recycling of extra materials can be done since the
construction of fabricated sub-assemblies takes place within the factory. This is a considerable
improvement as compared to traditional methods where waste was directly sent to a landfill
(Beadle, 2011, p. 56).
b) Financial savings
Financial savings is one of the greatest advantages that can be achieved as a result of using
prefabricated construction. Use of this particular modern method of construction sidesteps the
possibility of unreliable contractors and unproductive staff. To lower the cost of construction,
there is need of minimizing the time taken to complete constructing a building (Irwin, 2015, p.
76).
c) Flexibility
The relocation and disablement of modern construction can easily take place at different sites. As
a result of this, the overall time, demand for raw material and exhausted energy can be reduced.
Flexibility is permitted by modular construction when it comes to the design of the structure
allowing for an inexhaustible number of opportunities (Carmona, 2013, p. 34).
d) Consistent quality
The occurrence of fabricated construction takes place in a controlled manufacturing
environment, a specified standard is followed and the sub-assemblies of the structure will be
constructed to a uniform quality. By using this particular technique, the building of each
subassembly is done by experienced crews. (Craighead, 2009, p. 128).
e) Reduced site disruption

In this type of technique, the materials and equipment supplied are less since many buildings
components are completed in the factory. In traditional construction sites , factors such as noise,
pollution, and waste are limited. The use fabricated construction method is beneficial to
construction firm since it gets rid of unnecessary distractions and interference in the construction
site (Marginson, 2013, p. 55).
f) Shorter construction period
A construction which is portable takes a shorter time during construction unlike on-site
construction. Compared to the traditional method, prefabrication takes less time and this is as a
result of better scheduling interruptions and quicker construction. The construction expenses
involved are minimal when little time is taken to erect a building and this can only be achieved
by practicing a portable construction method (Patterson, 2011, p. 23).
g) Safety
Problems relating to dirt and moisture can be easily controlled since this particular construction
technique entails the creation of sub-assemblies in a factory. With practicing this method, there
are fewer accidents experienced among the workers and minimal liabilities. Safety is the greatest
importance, workers are exposed to conditions relating to weather and other varying ground
condition. Prefabricated construction is the best method to enhance safety in the construction
site. (Duncan, 2012, p. 65).

Issues facing High rise construction in the Australian
Construction Industry
Modern technologies are mostly used in many Australian construction companies so that they
can minimize the time taken to erect the building and also its cost. To ensure completion of the
building is done on time and also prevented from collapsing, modern technologies are needed by
high rise building. There are numerous issues that are affecting high rise building in Australia
and some of those challenges are mitigated by modern technology currently introduced in the
construction market (Dehn, 2016, p. 78). Some of these challenges experienced in the
construction of high rise building in Australia include;
a) Rising costs of projects
The rising cost of building high rise building is one the greatest problem facing the Australian
construction industry. This comes as a result of high prices of metals, oil, rising interest rate, and
a strong Australian dollar. The efficiency of the Australian construction sector is affected by
these factors and one of the factor which increases the cost of constructing high rise building is
delay in construction thus too much expenses are incurred for example, paying workers as well
construction expenses (Wood, 2014, p. 65). This issue can be solved by practicing Raster façade
precast concrete system.
b) Quality Control

Controlling the quality of services rendered in Australia is one of the biggest problem facing the
Australian Industry. This is the most nagging issue since there is no regulation or law put in
place to control the delivery of quality services. This is because the industry lacks the focus to
establish the best standard of services that should be delivered (Stafford, 2009, p. 329).
Application of Raster façade precast concrete system assists in solving quality issues.
c) Reduced workplace productivity
The working hours either lessen or stays the same and this is becoming a greater challenge
through which the Australian construction industries have failed to handle. There are numerous
workers whose working hours have been slashed while certain workers who are skilled do not
get overtime in order to increase production thus a low production is displayed.
d) Shortages of skilled labor
Underestimation of skilled labor should not be done when looking at problems affecting high rise
construction in Australia. The Australian as a nation, is not capable of producing enough skilled
or professional workers who are capable of carrying out all operations in high rise building
effectively. These shortages will not be able to successfully function thru scarcer trained
workers.
e) Capital supply constraints
The construction of high rise building requires resources to be erected since numerous materials
for construction are expensive in Australia. For example, the price of metals needed for
construction in Australia are high thus high rise building requires a lot of capital to ensure that all
construction materials needed are available in the site and all expenses such as salaries to the
workers are paid for within the stipulated time. Adequate capital is needed to cater for

transportation expenses which is much costly, since a frequent transportation of materials are
needed from the extraction site to the construction site (Sayigh, 2016, p. 432)
f) Safety Onsite
Safety on site is one of the crestfallen problems that is being faced by Australian industry. There
are certain construction activities that are being encountered by workers that leads to injuries
among the workers and that is the reason why insurance cover and compensation claim, are
needed for serious injuries (Sarkisian, 2016, p. 76). Safety can be improved by using Automated
Welding System and Mega truss seismic isolation.
g) The long period of construction
Construction of high rise building in Australia takes too long to be completed and this can only
be avoided through application of modern technologies. The time taken to construct a building
should be minimized since it results into cost overrun. When a building takes too long before
completion, then expenses such as transportation and payment of salaries will accumulate when
the work takes too long (Reddy, 2009, p. 543). A long period of construction can be solved
through BSB prefabricated construction process.
Conclusion
The construction of high rise building requires the use of modern technology to ensure the
quality of construction is achieved, the cost of construction is minimal and a short period of
completing the construction. There are also certain challenges which affects the construction of
high rise building in Australia and these challenges can only be avoided by implementing
modern construction technologies such as automated welding.

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