Construction Commonalities

In Tuesday's lab we talked about commonalities in construction, and our assignment was to visit two construction sites on campus (New Residence Hall and Basketball Practice Facility) and to take note of commonalities and differences between the two sites. We discussed that commonalities in construciton sites all revolve around the same broad topics of equipment, site layout utilization, mock panels, material handling, materials, state of completion, temporary structures, and labor.

Both sites were doing touch up and finalizing work as they were in the final phases of construction, with the Basketball Facility being a little closer to completion than the new dorm. Other similarities include that both sites had heavy equipment stored and in use on site, and that storage was obviously a very important issue. With the construction going on the same time as school, the workspaces are very restriced on both sites and therefore both sites had multiple trailers and other storage units on site. The sites both used much of the same materials, such as hokie stone, which was still being completed on the Residence Hall, and precast concrete. Both projects also were fenced off and blocked in the same manner. They also both had mock-wall examples on display.

Differences are that the New Residence Hall work area was too small for much parking, and workers therefore must find alternate places to park then to get to the work area. Also due to the varying sizes of the work areas, the New Residence Hall was much more cluttered and hard to get materials organized, while the Basketball Facility seemed much more open and accessible. Another difference is that the Residence Hall had many more visible workers, which could just be because there is more work to do outside because the project is farther from completion than the Basketball Facility.