Last week the National Association of Home Builders
(NAHB) reported that severe shortages of construction tradespeople were slowing
homebuilding and increasing costs. The shortages, as reported by NAHB's new
home builder members, affected all trades from rough carpenters to plumbers and
masons. Now, from Australia, comes news
that brick masons at least may not have as much job security as that NAHB
report would suggest.
The Hadrian X, developed by Perth-based Fastbrick
Robotics, can lay more than 1,000 bricks an hour and, in tests, has framed a
small home in two days. Hadrian,
essentially a long robotic arm that can be mounted on a track, crane, or barge,
uses a 3-D model of the house, cuts its own bricks, applies adhesive, then conveys
them to the arm which puts them in place.
The plumbing and electrical systems, windows, doors, and other finish
work is performed by human hands.
The machine grinds and mills its own bricks so the
building is not constrained by standard sizing. Leanne Garfield, writing in
Business Insider, says it can handle bricks up to 2,000 cubic inches while a
standard brick, at least in Australia, is 115 cubic inches.
She quotes Fastrbrick's director of corporate affairs, Kiel Chivers, that the
company's machine, which is not yet commercially available, could shake up the
global construction market as it promises to build houses and other structures
faster than any human can. While there
is already a shortage of brick layers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts
that those jobs will increase 15 percent by 2025.
The Hadrian X will build its first house later this
year. It will include three bedrooms and two bathrooms.