PORR has introduced a bricklaying robot, called Walter, at the Kladno Living residential construction project near Prague, Czech Republic, as part of its efforts to incorporate new technologies on site.
The company had deployed the robot to build load-bearing and partition walls from acoustic bricks at a five-building development with 371 apartments, along with covered parking areas.
PORR has been using Walter since the start of the project. The robot lifts individual bricks weighing up to 52kg and places them according to the digital design model, aiming for millimetre-level accuracy.
The company states that testing Walter is intended to assess the robot’s performance and practical suitability under actual construction site conditions. Use of the robot requires adjustments in project planning and coordination.
Effective integration of automation and robotics requires close collaboration among planners, client representatives, structural engineers and on-site teams.
Walter weighs 2,500kg, operates over a range of 3.5m and can achieve a productivity of up to 10m² per hour. It has a power consumption of 1.5kW.
Operated under the supervision of trained professionals, Walter also depends on site preparation and open workspace to function.
PORR CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss said: “Digitalisation and robotics are among PORR’s long-term strategic priorities. Robot-assisted bricklaying is a concrete example of how modern technologies can contribute to safer and more efficient construction.
“Construction is and will remain a people business. Our aim is not to replace people, but to provide our employees with tools that make particularly heavy work easier for them.”
According to the company, the robot can currently produce work at a rate comparable to that of an experienced bricklayer and is able to construct not only straight walls, but also corners and wall openings.
Its primary benefit, as stated, is in handling physically demanding tasks such as lifting heavy materials while maintaining consistent quality.
Robotics is one of several digital approaches adopted by PORR, with other initiatives including building information modelling (BIM) and data-driven construction management.
The Construction Automation & Robotics (CAR) team manages these technologies for the group. Each use case, including the Kladno Living project, is tailored to specific site requirements.
PORR Czech Republic & Slovakia managing director Dušan Čížek said: “We’re proud to have implemented this pioneering project in the Czech Republic. The experience gained from the Kladno Living project will feed into future projects and be shared across the group.”
In January, PORR was awarded a €150m ($174m) contract to build the Kołbaskowo–Dołuje stretch of the S6 Western Bypass near Szczecin in north-west Poland.
