Research Question

How do contractors and subcontractors communicate in Construction?

Textual Rhetorical Analysis

            In pieces of scholarly writing, the reader may find countless reasons in which they successfully understand or grasp the main ideas in the paper. The writers of these particular pieces use many tools to do so.  In “Construction Engineering Today,” by Robert McTavish and Robert Stallard, there are many ways they successfully inform and educate the audience of the dynamics of the construction world, but the most influential aspect is the structure of their paper.

            To accomplish the purpose of this piece, the authors used many different structural methods of writing. The first instance the reader will come across is a well-thought out thesis and introduction. These two parts engulf the purpose and the topics the paper will later go in detail to explain. Another primary example of this journal’s structure is how the two authors split the piece up into multiple sections and subsections. These are often headed with bold or italicized titles and subtitles that notify the reader of changing topics. This is a very important factor in educating the reader because the authors, many times will leave out conclusion statements in the paragraphs located within the subsections. The authors do this to save time and refrain from being repetitive. This also helps to prevent from being over explanatory with their supporting details in these sections, which might detract from the major points they are trying to reinforce.

 In addition, the literature makes use of new paragraphs that exclude indentation. This structural tool is found during the course of this work, and is used to introduce new or additional pieces of knowledge to main points already that have been previously stated. Along with this, there are photos and added descriptions of the specific scenarios from the U.S. Highway 90 project that the authors worked on. These additional descriptions aid by giving the reader a specific, real life application of the topic being defined. Later in the paper, when introducing the work plans and other key aspects, bullet points were used to show sequential order of the ideas and makeup of this construction tool. All of these factors are important in how the authors successfully educate their audience about the present day construction world via the literature’s structure.

            I find the authors to be very successful in their work to educate and inform their readers at the Construction Engineering Conference in Seattle, where the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes these research articles to their journals. These journal’s articles are created to inform and educate readers on the latest discoveries and other relevant information for builders throughout the world. The way McTavish and Stallard organize and fill their paper with knowledge, along with the fact that ASCE chose to publish this paper are primal reasons I find them successful.  By organizing their work in such a way as stated above, the information the authors are giving you seems to be more comprehensible.

By splitting the paper up into many sections and subsections, it came off of the page much more fluently. I was able to get the gist of the paper, and digest most of the information. I am no expert in construction engineering yet, but I had very little problem following along with all they had to tell me, other than the specific terms sometimes used with the U.S. Highway 90 examples. There was no issue of jumping around from thought to thought and no trouble in following the sequential order of ideas. The specific bold titles were very helpful in deciphering between the focal points and other supporting ideas. This, in turn, helped me to grasp the purpose and main ideas of the literary work. In the work plans section, the bullet points were vital in understanding their makeup, and their general purpose. Being among the intended audience as a future builder, I find the authors successful in accomplishing their purpose of informing and educating me and many others about the changing world of construction we work in.

            In Robert Stallard and Robert McTavish’s article, the structure of their paper makes their thoughts and ideas most easily comprehended by readers. Though there are many aspects to writing that help writers get there points across to readers, the authors of this literary work focused on structure and arrangement to educate the builders that will be reading their paper.

           

Bibliography

McTavish, R. and Stallard, R. (2011). ”Construction Engineering Today1.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 137, SPECIAL ISSUE: Construction Engineering: Opportunity and Vision for Education, Practice, and Research, 724–729.

Article for Textual Analysis

http://ascelibrary.org.proxy.lib.iastate.edu/doi/full/10.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0000298

This is the link to the article I am doing my textual rhetorical analysis on.

Visual Rhetoric

                In March 2012, the construction of a new 634 million dollar ball park for the Miami Marlins was completed. A drawing of the entire ball park is shown, and is a prime source of visual communication used in the field of construction engineering. The single most important piece of visual communication found throughout the construction industry are the plans. These plans consist of all of the drawings and renderings that show how the final project should look when accomplished. These include, but are not limited to: sectional views, floor plans, ceiling plans, 3-dimensional views, elevation views, and schedules. These designs and plans are used to accomplish daily tasks and to entice a client into financing the project in the preconstruction process. Due to their many essential uses in construction, construction plans epitomize visual communication in the construction engineering field.

            To start off, in the floor plan of the stadium, you can see the entire layout of the project. Though you are unable to see all of the numbers and details of the project from this particular drawing, you would be able to do so if you were to open this document in the software in which it was created. You would have the ability to pan in and out, change viewing angles, and select different objects to reveal their properties. For example, if you were to select a sectional view of the stands (a side view as if you were standing on the field), you would be able to see and edit any object in your view, whether it be the stands, walls, seats, or even the décor. Through this software, you can apply this method to any object from any view. You are able to view and change the minutest of details with the click of a button. When engineers work on a project, they first must come to an agreement on a design between them and the client. The drawing shown is one of the completed plans of the stadium, which is presented to the client, which in this situation is the owner of the Miami Marlins. Many more views are shown, often three dimensional renderings or videos panning throughout the 3D stadium as if taking a tour through the entire finished product. If the owner agrees and is willing to finance the project, the building process starts. During the process of actually making the plans come to life, the plans are constantly being reviewed to see how things will be laid out and what products to use. That being said, the project plans are very important means of visual communication, not only for clients but for the construction engineer’s team building the project.

            In this case, the drawing of the Marlins’ new stadium was being used for presentation to the client who was financing the build. This is so because usually the construction engineer’s plans include much more quantitative details within the layout when being used for reference of the build. These drawings convey a means of common understanding between the teams building the project. There is no information left out. Distances are one example of many. As you can see, there is a lack of the usual annotations that depict the distances between different parts of the park. In most cases, there are lines and tiny numbers scattered across the page of the drawing you can hardly tell what it is. In addition, most plans include a ton of symbolism that even I have yet to begin to understand. These symbols would be located throughout the drawing, referencing you to different drawings including the specifications and properties of certain objects. The color and fact that almost anyone can decipher what objects and sections of the parks generally are is yet another hint that the intended audience is a client and not other engineers, architects, or site supervisors. Typically, the drawings shared between these people are much more crude and difficult to understand for someone not strongly educated in construction plans. All of these factors show that this drawing is specifically designed to awe and woo a client financing a project.

            This specific example of a construction plan is an effective way of visually communicating what the final project of the Marlin’s stadium would look like. For being a two dimensional drawing, it does a very good job at satisfying the client with the completed plan by showing all of the different aspects of the stadium, without all of the symbolism and fine details. It does not take an expert to read this particular construction drawing, and it still shows what the finished product will generally look like. Anyone can understand most of the details in this drawing. For example, the green circles: trees, the blue lines and white stripes: paths or walkways, the lots filled with lines outside the stadium: parking. It doesn’t take much previously acquired construction specific knowledge to understand the layout of the new Miami Marlins’ Stadium. The color included in the drawing not only helps with the deciphering of objects, but gives the drawing more pizazz to appeal to the client. It makes the drawing look more impressive than its counterparts used by the construction engineers to complete the project.  Although the drawing doesn’t capture the project in its entirety, it still successfully reveals the layout and design of the entire park, along with the plot of land it will be sitting upon to help the client make a decision on whether to finance the project or not.

The drawing of the Miami Marlins’ new stadium is an effective use of visual communication not only because of all the reasons stated above, but because the owner chose to finance it and make the drawing come to life. In today’s constantly changing world, good communication is a crucial factor of completing a successful project, and much of this communication is done visually. The importance of all the different team members to be on the same page is inexplicable. Of the many types of plans involved in the construction process, all are equally as important in visual communication. Whether it be used to reference back to during the build or design the project the client wants to finance, it is an essential piece to the communication puzzle in construction engineering.

Visual Communication

In construction engineering, the majority of visual communication takes place via site plans and drawings. There are many different types of software that can be used to design buildings and other construction projects, but all are similar in the fact that they include every detail of a project, including the smallest intricacies. These plans, like the Miami ball park I’ve posted, show the big picture and layout of an entire project. If you were to open this document on the proper program, you would be able to zoom and select different parts of the build, and see what the makeup is. With access to these plans, you would be able to see what sizes of doors go where, the exact footage of flooring, and anything else that might need to be known about a build.  The creators of these drawings are trying to convey a means of common understanding, and provide a base at which supervisors and contractors can quickly and easily refer back to in search of answers. Once the plans and drawings are completed and approved, they are used daily to complete the build process.

             In this particular case, the sky view over the entire completed park is shown. I think the audience for this drawing might have been the clients or the people that wanted to create a new stadium for the Miami Marlins. I believe this is so because it shows the entire layout and what the final project will generally look like. It doesn’t include any exact numbers for distances and types of products used in the actual build. To me, this looks more like a proposal from a firm to the owner of the Marlins saying, “We can build you a stadium like this, for this amount of money in this amount of time.” As you can see, it also includes small labels on specific parts or sections of the park, which in the builder’s plans would not be labeled so well due to symbolism. The biggest hint that makes me think this is the drawing of the proposal is the lack of quantitative detail, and the flashiness and high quality of the drawing, which looks like it would be used to entice the owner to pick this firm to build the Miami Marlins Stadium.

rhetoric

                In most of our lives, we all get the unforgettable memory of going through middle school. It was always filled with drama; who liked who, the old angry English teacher, recess, fights, and of course, cooties. All of that besides, I remember my first day of class, wondering about Mrs. Edelsworth. She preferred us to call her Mrs. E., but most of us called her Mrs. Evil behind her back. This information had been sprinkled down to us from the fifth graders the year before us. I remember trembling on my way to class, and the thoughts that ran through my head that first day.

                As I sat down in my seat towards the middle of the room, and Mrs. E. wrote her name on the board, I noticed her ugly cat sweater that looked like it came from the 1800’s. She had to be at least 80 years old. Probably one of those old ladies that that took in strays, and hated everything but them. My ears rang as the chalk moved across the board, but the noise didn’t seem to bother her like it did the rest of the class. Was she deaf? As our class sat in silence, Timmy from down the street strolled in late. Her head snapped around so fast I swore she got whiplash, and scolded him for his poor punctuality, then continued to rip him a new one for his messy hair and hygiene. Timmy must’ve slept in past his alarm. Apparently she wasn’t so deaf. She had the ears of a bat, and the eyes of a hawk. I felt bad for Timmy, getting embarrassed in front of the whole class. Mrs. E. must not have had kids, because she didn’t seem to like them. She then continued on the importance of punctuality and good hygiene, and I spaced off for a bit, analyzing the room. There were posters of book covers on the walls, all books I’ve never heard of. All were what looked like old books. She must have liked old books, but I guess that makes sense because she’s old.  Good Lord, I hope we don’t have to read those. There was a picture of a group of people on her desk. It was a family of four, a mom, a dad, and a brother and sister together in the park. I wasn’t sure whether it was her family, or someone she had murdered.

                I kept gazing around the room, distracted by my thoughts when SMACK! I looked down to see the red mark left on my hand from a ruler. “Ouch!” I shouted, peering up into black, beady eyes behind the biggest, thickest pair of bifocals I had ever seen. My heart stopped beating, and I swear at that moment, my soul was being sucked out of me by the evil Mrs. E.