Polyuse regularly holds tours of construction projects that use construction 3D printers (hereinafter "construction 3DP"). On June 16, we held a tour at a road construction site in Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture, together with the Furugori Construction–Daiichi Sekisan JV. Components manufactured with construction 3DP were used in part of this large-scale road project.
Easing congestion around the JR Takasaki Line: construction 3DP adopted for an underpass project in Fukaya City
The construction 3DP components were used in the "Harago–Uenodai Line Street Construction Work," ordered by Fukaya City. The project will link areas divided north and south by the JR Takasaki Line with an underpass, with the aim of relieving traffic congestion and other issues. It is scheduled for completion in FY2027.
Gravity retaining walls made with construction 3DP were adopted for the section at the entrance to the underpass. Guardrails are scheduled to be installed on top of these components.
A dramatically shorter construction period: the benefits construction 3DP brings to the job site
The greatest appeal of construction 3DP lies in its benefits for construction work. In this project, gravity retaining walls manufactured in advance at a factory are transported to the site and used as formwork. The work is complete once concrete has been poured inside the retaining walls. With the conventional method, formwork is built from timber, and concrete is poured into it and cured. For this project, that process would conventionally have taken about two weeks.
With construction 3DP, installing the retaining-wall formwork is expected to take one day, and the whole process, including concrete placement, just a day and a half. The work can be completed in roughly one-seventh of the conventional time, dramatically shortening construction. In addition, there is no need to erect and dismantle the scaffolding that timber formwork requires, which brings major advantages in terms of both cost and construction period.
Taking on construction DX with an eye to "reducing accident risk" and the "labor shortage"
Furugori Construction, the contractor carrying out the work, is a company that actively adopts digital transformation (DX) at construction sites, including drones, laser scanners and digital systems. Wakabayashi of Furugori Construction says, "We'd been wanting to introduce 3DP at some point. If the construction period is shorter than before, fewer people are needed on site. Naturally, that also means we can reduce the risk of accidents, which is a big advantage." Looking ahead to future labor shortages, Wakabayashi is eager to "keep adopting new technologies."
Through this tour, we were once again able to see for ourselves how much construction 3DP can contribute to greater efficiency and safety on site.
Polyuse will continue to contribute to the spread of construction 3DP and the advancement of DX on site, as a new technology that supports local infrastructure.
Finally, our heartfelt thanks to everyone at the Furugori Construction–Daiichi Sekisan JV for hosting this tour, and to everyone who attended!
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