“Robot co-workers” work in precise coordination, a “smart brain” provides full-process control, and the “unmanned factory” operates efficiently. According to the Municipal Construction Commission, the third section of the Nanjing North Station station building has fully entered the ground-structure construction stage, presenting a vivid scene of technology-enabled construction.
As a provincial-level smart construction pilot project in 2025, the third section of the Nanjing North Station station building is responsible for construction in the area from axis 26 to axis 38, with the core focus on the main structure of the station building. So far, the exit hall has been 90% completed, and the track-bearing layer, as the core of the railway hub, has been 35% completed. Through the integration of multiple “black technologies,” the project strongly empowers intelligent construction and improves both efficiency and quality.
The third section of Nanjing North Station is the first to apply an “intelligent formwork unmanned factory,” enabling precise production of customized and mass-produced formwork. The factory combines BIM technology, big data algorithms, IoT smart devices, 5G communication technology, and a digital management system to complete intelligent unitized design and processing of formwork in an industrialized workflow inside the plant.
Technicians use BIM models for intelligent one-click formwork matching. Through intelligent matching, the utilization rate of formwork has increased from the previous 80% to more than 95%. The system automatically generates processing drawings and transmits them to the equipment control system, where the equipment automatically completes cutting, drilling, dust removal, and other procedures according to the drawings. Combined with a “loading robot,” which handles formwork loading and unloading, and linked through 5G communication modules, the system enables unmanned formwork cutting.
“The entire set of equipment can complete the processing of a single sheet of formwork in just one minute, and the peak daily processing capacity can reach more than 2,000 square meters, equivalent to the workload of 20 carpenters,” said a technical person in charge from the construction contractor.
In the smart construction exhibition hall at the third section of Nanjing North Station, numerous digital screens and technical achievement models attract attention. The project adopts a “1+1+N” smart construction site platform to achieve digital management across the entire construction process and help the station building progress efficiently.
Line-marking robots, ground leveling robots, ground polishing robots, smart safety helmets, and smart weighbridges are also being actively used on site, making the construction process more efficient and intelligent. For example, with the ground leveling robot, operators no longer need to enter the concrete pouring area. They can control it remotely or set it in advance, and the robot can automatically carry out high-precision leveling work. Testing shows that robot construction precision has improved from the traditional manual level of 10 mm to within 4 mm, while saving 3 to 5 workers.
At the construction site of the third section of Nanjing North Station, algorithms are the new “construction drawings,” data are the flowing “building materials,” and people and machines, under the coordinated dispatch of the “smart brain,” form an efficient, precise, and safe construction community.
