Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction and Jinki Ittai develop technology to remotely load explosives for mountain tunnel construction, report says

Nikkei reported on September 28, 2026, that Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction and Jinki Ittai have developed technology to remotely load explosives during mountain tunnel construction.

The focus is on how remote operation of hazardous work could contribute both to safety management and labor savings in mountain tunnel construction. The extent to which Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction and Jinki Ittai can remotely perform the work with consistent results is expected to affect how widely the technology is adopted at construction sites.

The report on remote loading of explosives for mountain tunnel construction is best understood as an effort to isolate only the most hazardous tasks for remote operation, rather than replace work at the site altogether. The partnership between Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction and Jinki Ittai connects construction expertise with the development capabilities of remote-operation equipment, pointing toward a way to reduce on-site staffing while keeping workers at a distance. However, the report only says the technology has been developed. The original report should be consulted to confirm which tasks can be performed remotely and how much work can be replaced in actual construction. There are no related articles in this newspaper, so a direct comparison with past coverage is not possible. In general, automation and remote operation in tunnel construction tend to be introduced in stages across individual tasks such as excavation, materials transport, surveying and blast preparation. It is uncommon for a single technology to replace all tasks at once. The focus here, too, appears to be on separating hazardous work by remotely performing the limited task of loading explosives. The report does not provide information on price, deployment scale or market size. Whether the technology can be implemented at construction sites is often more dependent on how well it can be incorporated into existing construction procedures than on equipment costs. From a technical standpoint, remote operation raises issues including communications latency, operating precision, visibility, and tolerance for dust and confined conditions at the site. Loading explosives is subject to strict safety requirements, and human supervision or verification procedures are likely to remain even if the work is performed remotely. The points to check going forward are: (1) which tasks are covered by remote operation; (2) whether the technology is being tested or used in actual operations; and (3) what constraints apply when integrating it into existing mountain tunnel construction. See the original report for details.

Loading explosives in mountain tunnel construction is a task subject to strict safety requirements at Japanese construction sites as well. If remote operation advances, it could lead to changes in labor allocation and safety procedures at construction sites.