Our new SMART partner - underwater robot

A Leighton Asia project team in Hong Kong has adopted a professional-level underwater robot to conduct inspections and surveys for silt curtains along the harbourfront.  

The underwater robot has an in-built 4K camera and, laser scanner and can be operated remotely. It gathers detailed imaging, video film and data that can measure and record the condition of the silt curtains to identify potential leaks and debris obstructions. 

This provides an enhanced means to conduct weekly underwater inspections without divers, mitigating safety risks and increasing efficiency.

To construct the 2.2km pedestrian boardwalk along the harbourfront, silt curtains will be deployed to minimise the disturbance on water bodies produced by marine construction operations. 

The engineering team needs to regularly check the silt curtain to evaluate the sediment condition during marine piling works. Traditionally, we would rely on professional divers to conduct underwater inspections, which is an activity that requires many risk mitigations to ensure safe operation. Now with the water robot, human intervention is minimised and it can be done safely even in strong currents and difficult to access locations.

More accessories can be added to the robot, which provides the potential for other teams to extend its application to surveying and other disciplines.  

Watch the water robot in action.