John Sisk & Son has introduced lifting robotics to construction projects, investing £135k to enhance productivity on its sites and minimise health and safety risks
The innovative lifting robotics tool known as a Material Unit Lift Enhancer (“MULE”) was developed by the New York-based company Construction Robotics.
It is now operational at Sisk’s Wembley Park E05 site in London, a major residential development. It is being used in the construction of the multi-storey car park comprising 140 car bays, 650 bicycle spaces, 77 coach bays and 202 accessible parking bays.
Sisk also intends to roll the lifting robotics tool out across its other construction projects in Ireland and the UK in the coming months.
The MULE is a lift assist device designed for handling and articulating material weighing up to 134lbs on a construction site into place. The lifting robotics tool allows the material to feel weightless, reduces fatigue and injuries, and increases productivity by between 50-400%.
The MULE will not replace bricklayers or masons; rather it will improve their working conditions and enable them to focus on other aspects such as the pointing of brickwork.
Sisk CEO, Steve Bowcott, said: “I am delighted to announce that Sisk now has a fully operational Material Unit Lift Enhancer at our Wembley Park site. At Sisk, we are always looking at new, innovative ways to enhance productivity and make conditions safer for our workforce.
“This development further demonstrates that Sisk is leading the way in terms of the introduction of innovative construction solutions to construction projects and we look forward to utilising this tool across our other sites in Ireland and the UK very soon.”
While Sisk is the first European construction company to use the MULE, there are currently approx. 120 lifting devices in use across the US.
Scott Peters, president and co-founder of Construction-Robotics, said: “Construction Robotics is excited to be working with John Sisk & Son to bring the MULE (Material Unit Lift Enhancer) technology to the UK to benefit the health of the worker and to add to the construction markets through new methods to improve productivity for installing block materials.
“Sisk’s leadership to search out and their investment to adapt innovative technologies has led to a 12-month partnership to get the first Construction Robotics MULE technology outside of North America for application on the Wembley Park E05 project. Their team of experts worked with our engineers to develop a new larger block format and a custom MULE gripper to take advantage of the MULE lifting capacity.
“This system can be used across many types of construction in the UK. We are excited to be a part of the Sisk Team and see great opportunities to advance construction with technology.”
Tarmac has worked collaboratively with Sisk and Construction Robotics to develop an innovative aggregate block, 890mm long, which is twice as large as a standard 100mm thick concrete block. The new larger, heavier block can be safely manoeuvred into place thanks to the lifting capacity of the MULE and has a significant effect on increasing build productivity and efficiency.
Andrew Campling, product line director – aggregate blocks at Tarmac’s building products business, added: “There are significant opportunities to continue improving the performance of the construction industry through the development of new technologies and innovations and we’re delighted to be part of this pioneering collaborative trial.
“Alongside the opportunity to increase efficiency rates and remove the amount of manual handling required, there are important safety, as well as wellbeing benefits to having heavy lifting carried out by this robotic tool.”
