Update: What do world’s biggest construction firms now spend on R&D?

Earlier this year we reviewed how the leading equipment manufacturers fund product development. This time we have revisited the biggest construction groups, returning to the same nine firms that topped last year’s Icon 200 rankings.

Using the latest edition of International Construction’s refreshed Icon 100 (a streamlined list that now focuses on the 100 largest companies by revenue), we have examined newly released annual reports and filings to identify their most recent R&D spend.

The exercise is not intended to be exhaustive: Several groups continue to publish consolidated figures that include activities outside their construction business.

Even so, the data illustrates how much these companies are investing, how spending has shifted year on year, and the areas where they are directing their efforts.

Here is what the top nine spent most recently, and the priorities shaping that investment:

1) China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC)

CSCEC built a 48,000-ton single-tower cable-stayed bridge, part of Xi’an’s Xingfu Road North Extension Project in China (Image: CSCEC)

CSCEC spent CNY 45.5 billion (US$6.4 billion) on research and development in 2024, according to its annual report. That was a 1.3% decline on the previous year, although CSCEC said this was as a result of it optimising the structure of its R&D investment and increasing the efficiency of its spending.

The company dedicated the largest part of its R&D budget to “low-carbon practices and renewable energy in architecture” (26%) followed by intelligent construction and digitalisation (20.2%), and infrastructure construction technology (15.2%). It also dedicated spend to new materials and new approaches to industrialised construction (12.1%), and urban renewal (11.3%).

Among innovations it mentioned during the year were a new generation of lightweight intelligent tower crane that was put into use on the Libu Yangtze River Bridge project in Jingzhou, Hubei province. Meanwhile, it has developed an unmanned beam factory UBF2.0 that was put into use on the Ganyu section of National Highway 204 in Liangyungang, Jiangsu province. The machine has a fully automated assembly line that operates from raw material cutting and semi-finished product processing, to finished project assembly.

The company’s operating revenue was CNY 2.18 trillion (US$306.8 billion) for the year, which means its R&D spending represented around 2.1% of turnover.

2) China Railway Group

China Railway Group’s R&D spend in 2024 dropped by 11.2% as compared to the previous year, from CNY 30 billion (US$4.2 billion) in 2023, to CNY 26.6 billion (US$3.7 billion) in 2024.

The main bridge system of Jiuzi Bridge, the first steel truss and arch shell collaborative system bridge in China. China Railway First Bureau is building the 1,500m-long structure, located in the Sino-Singapore Suzhou-Chuzhou Industrial Park in Chuzhou, Anhui Province. (Image: China Railway Group).

That came as the company reported an 8.2% decline in revenue to CNY 1.16 trillion (US$162.9 billion).

Nonetheless, the company stressed that its R&D spending remains at a high level – in 2024 it represented 2.3% of total revenue.

China Railway Group said it was promoting intelligent construction “on all fronts” with 35 projects underway.

The group has three national laboratories (engineering research centres): the National Engineering Laboratory of High-Speed Railway Construction Technology, the National Key Laboratory of Tunnel Boring Machines and Intelligent Operation and Maintenance, and the National Key Laboratory of Bridge Intelligence and Green Construction.

In addition, there are 10 postdoctoral work stations as well as 52 provincial and ministerial research and development centres looking at railway, bridge, tunnel, and rail transit construction in China.

The company pledged that in the future, it would continue to invest in research and development in support of strategic emerging industries.

3) China Railway Construction Company (CRCC)

CRCC was another Chinese construction giant to see a reduction in its R&D spending in 2024, falling 3.8% to CNY 26.7 billion (US$3.8 billion).

CRCC recently completed the 8.8km-long Helan Mountain tunnel between the Alxa Left Banner in Inner Mongolia and Yinchuan in the Ningxia autonomous region. It forms part of the Baoyin high-speed railway, Yingba Branch (Image courtesy of CRCC)

It accompanies a 6.2% decline in the company’s revenue to CNY 1.07 trillion (US$150.5 billion), and a 14.9% drop in net profit to CNY 22.2 billion (US$3.1 billion).

CRCC said it had established the CRCC Academy of Science and Technology Research, which specialises in green and low-carbon technology research, new materials, high-end equipment, new energy sources, and bamboo-based materials.

It has three national-level innovation platforms and 34 provincial/ministerial and industry-level innovation platforms, while pursuing collaborative innovation effort in major national initiatives.

The business said it won four awards for innovation and obtained 7,740 new authorised patents throughout the year, including 2,696 invention patents, which was a year-on-year increase of 34%.

4) China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)

CCCC’s spending on R&D fell by 6.2% to CNY 26 billion in 2024 (US$3.7 billion), while its revenue increased 1.7% to CNY 768.2 billion (US$108 billion) over the same period.

That means that CCCC’s R&D spend was around 3.4% of turnover in 2024.

The company said it had received approval to build a green and low-carbon original technology hub for transportation infrastructure. Its National Key Laboratory of Green and Long-life Road Engineering in Extreme Environments was recognised by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, as was the National Key Laboratory of Safe and Long-life, Healthy Operation and Maintenance of Long Bridges.

Looking ahead to China’s 15th five-year plan, running from 2026 to 2030, CCCC said it would research materials technology and invest in the field of deep earth and deep sea construction, wave energy utilisation, floating wind power, BIM, artificial intelligence, and industrial software.

It added that it would also increase the proportion of its R&D investment in “strategic emerging industries”.

5) Vinci

French-owned construction group Vinci dedicated €50 million to research and development in 2023 but does not appear to have published a figure for 2024.

The group as a whole generated revenue in 2024 of €71.6 billion, €31.8 billion of which came from its construction arm.

Its total R&D budget is likely to have been similar to that of 2023, which would make it much smaller as a proportion of the group’s revenue than its Chinese counterparts.

Leonard is the name of the VINCI Group’s foresight platform and fast track for innovative projects (Image courtesy of Vinci)

However, the only mention of the level of funding it puts towards R&D in 2024 that Construction Briefing was able to find was in relation to its ‘Lab recherche environnement’ programme. That is a scientific partnership with three French engineering schools that focuses on: energy efficiency in buildings, nature in cities and sustainable mobility. Vinci said that the partnership has given rise to 85 research projects related to energy, biodiversity, or mobility since 2008. It added that it had committed to the programme for another five years in 2023, putting forward €6 million to support it.

The company’s latest annual report also showed that Vinci has 2,500 patents in effect around the world.

Its “innovation and foresight” platform, called Leonard, supported 39 projects in 2024, taking the total since its inception to 215. Some 17 of those have evolved into new business ventures or entities, according to Vinci. Leonard’s foresight work in 2024 focused on emerging risks in the group’s various businesses, including climate change adaptation, and the transformation in the mobility sector between now and 2050.

The company also supports French think tank La Fabrique de la Cité on urban transitions which last year held events gain insight into public development projects carried out in the cities of Libourne and Gravelines. The think tank led a research cycle on the opportunities and risks of underground urban development. Energy renovation, public lighting and permeable cities were other focuses of research.

6) Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC)

Specialising in the planning, design and construction of major production facilities for nearly all the large- and medium-sized iron and steel enterprises in China, MCC’s spend on R&D declined by 16.9% in 2024.

The company spent CNY 16.4 billion (US$2.3 billion) in 2024, compared to CNY 19.7 billion (US$2.8 billion) in 2023.

While it specialises in metallurgical construction projects, more than 70% of MCC’s revenue comes from housing construction and municipal infrastructure projects.

The company said it has 28 national R&D platforms and holds over 53,000 active patents, has published 77 international standards, supported by a team of over 60,000 engineers and technical staff.

7) Bouygues

French conglomerate Bouygues has continued to increase its R&D spending, which rose to €76 million in 2024, up from €71 million in 2023, and €63 million in 2022.

“Big Carl”, the world’s largest crane, placed the 245-tonne dome onto the second reactor building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, England. Construction is being led by the Bouygues Laing O’Rourke (BYLOR) joint venture (Image: EDF Energy)

It’s worth noting that the figure is for the entire Bouygues group, which includes operations relevant to construction such as Bouygues Construction, infrastructure contractor Colas, and property arm Bouygues Immobilier, but also incorporates non-construction-related businesses like its TF1 broadcast subsidiary.

In its annual report, Bouygues provided extensive information about its R&D activities, which it said it was upscaling to help the business move faster.

The group is concentrating on research that is linked directly to operational challenges, with development work that then aims to deploy solutions across business units.

Its activity centred around four labs: the Design-to-Build Lab, Energy Lab, Materials Lab, and Built Ecology Lab.

The Design-to-Build Lab is exploring digital design, space and material optimisation, new construction techniques, virtual assistants, imaging, health and safety, robotics and automation, worksite data, and computer vision. Meanwhile, the Energy Lab is looking at renewable energy sources, energy performance, and energy retrofit. The Materials Lab is studying responsible concrete and materials diversity, and the Built Ecology Lab is looking at nature conservation, climate resilience, circularity, eco-design, and biodiversity.

8) ACS Group

Spain-based ACS Group, which owns Hochtief, Australia’s Cimic Group, and Turner Construction Company in the USA, dedicated €26.1 million to research, development and innovation in 2024. That figure was a small increase on the €25.8 million it spent in 2023.

The company said it has 230 innovation projects underway in 2024, touching data management and connectivity, digital design and planning, smart construction, automation of processes, and development of sustainable materials.

It highlighted the example of civil engineering contractor Dragados, which has developed AUR-AI, a new system that uses artificial intelligence to optimise tunnel boring machine (TBM) tunnelling. The system enables real-time data analysis and provides recommendations to operators which ACS said improved performance, reduced risk, and optimised construction costs. By anticipating possible incidents, the system also contributes to worker safety, ACS said.

Among other technologies, ACS is exploring the internet of things for real-time monitoring of built assets, generative design, virtual and augmented reality for interaction with digital models, drones for surveying, GPS and RFID systems, and 3D printing.

9) Shanghai Construction Group

China-based construction firm Shanghai Construction Group spent CNY 11 billion (US$1.5 billion) on R&D in 2024, which was a year-on-year increase of 2.7%. The company’s investment accounted for 3.7% of the CNY 300.2 billion (US$42.2 billion) operating revenue it generated in 2024.

It directed the spend towards: green materials and low-carbon construction techniques; digitalisation and industrialisation of construction processes; operational energy efficiency; and environmental monitoring and risk management platforms.