Foreign Property News | Posted by Si Thu Aung
A 7,382-ton (7,500 metric ton), 13,222 square foot (4,030 square meter) building complex in Shanghai, China is being moved around 10 meters a day using an army of small robots.
Consisting of a set of traditional shikumen-style buildings, the complex is being moved out of the way to allow for the construction of a three-story underground structure beneath it.
This will include the development of new 173,885 square feet (53,000 square meters) of cultural and commercial zones, a parking facility with over 100 spaces, and a transport hub connecting Metro Lines 2, 12, and 13 in the city.
Called the Huayanli complex, the collection of buildings were built in the 1920s–1930s and are part of the Zhangyuan area, which itself is over 140 years old. The complex also features architecture that combines Western and Chinese elements.
An army of 432 walking robots "The project has attracted attention not least due to the dense layout of historic structures, including Zhangyuan's great hall, a 1928 building that once housed a night school for patriotic education in the 1940s, leaving little room for renovation or underground development," a press release by the local government in Shanghai explains.
The move is temporary and the complex will be returned to its original location once the underground construction work is complete. But how is this all being achieved?
According to Shanghai's official government page, the incredible civil engineering feat is being carried out using 432 small walking robots.
These bots can gently lift the structure and then 'crawl' very slowly.
Touted as China’s largest relocation project of its kind in terms of size, weight, and complexity, the task at hand necessitated a novel solution owing to the tight layout of Zhangyuan. The area is peppered with narrow alleys and densely-packed old buildings, making traditional construction tools unusable.
Addressing these challenges, the project utilized drilling robots for foundation work, which can navigate through tight corridors and doorways. Special earth-moving robots with folding arms, which can operate in spaces as narrow as 3.93 feet (1.2 meters) wide, were also deployed.
Ref: 432 robots move 7,500-ton building in Chinese city to make way for new construction
