CONTENTS

SECTION 1 / General Information Getting Started: An Abridged Overview

GETTING STARTED: AN ABRIDGED OVERVIEW OF CONSTRUCTION PRINT READING FOR THE 21st CENTURY
The talented people at Thomson Delmar Learning created Construction Print Reading for the 21st Century to provide builders and design professionals with a modern, comprehensive reference tool to understand construction drawings and to offer students of both professions an easy-to-understand learning aid. This product stands out from similar publications in several ways. First, its digital nature requires the user to own or have at his or her disposal a personal computer (PC). For the construction professionals in the field, notebooks are becoming as common as cell phones. For years, project managers and superintendents carried laptops out of the office to the job site to assist in their activities. Now trade foremen frequently come equipped with a mobile PC along with their two-way radios and hammers. Architects conduct on-site observations and meetings, author minutes, and compose memos before returning to the office. Students enrolled in architecture, construction management, engineering, and interior design programs study lessons in electronic classrooms where each seat comes with a workstation. It seems logical that this print reading textbook should follow this course. Second, thanks to its digital structure, this product allows the reader to move about its contents with an ease impossible for a traditional book. A review of construction prints may be organized in two distinct mannersby view or by discipline. All drawings fall into one of four distinct views: plan view, sections, elevations, and details. They may also be categorized by one of five primary disciplines: architectural (carpentry, masonry), structural (concrete and/or steel), mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. This product allows the user to toggle between and focus on specific categories. Suppose you are only interested in viewing information on mechanical prints. Construction Print Reading for the 21st Century presents information on reading mechanical drawings only. Suppose you want to study section views, for all disciplines. In this case, you can focus on just section print reading. Perhaps you may want to see only information related to structural details. This product enables the reader to focus on this specific topic. Finally, the digital video disk (DVD) you purchased contains information on all of the previous views and disciplines. It is without a doubt the most comprehensive work on print reading ever published by Thomson Delmar Learning. In addition to the basics of print reading, it contains a dictionary, abbreviations list, and symbols charts that cover every construction discipline. With this product the reader can acquire information drawn from the following fine Thomson Delmar Learning texts along with new, original information. Understanding Construction Drawings, 4th Edition, by Mark W. Huth Blueprint Reading and Drafting for Plumbers by Michael A. Joyce

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SECTION 1 / General Information Getting Started: An Abridged Overview

Blueprints and Plans for HVAC, 2nd Edition, by Frank and Wilma Miller and Joseph Moravek Masonry Skills, 5th Edition, by Richard T. Kreh, Sr. Illustrated Dictionary for Electrical Workers, 2nd Edition, by Patricia A. and James E. Titus and John Traister Blueprint Reading for Welders, 7th Edition, by A. E. Bennett and Louis J. Siy Construction Print Reading for the 21st Century may be used as a daily reference for working professionals in the office or field, or as a textbook for students in the classroom. Either way, it will serve as an invaluable tool to interpret construction prints no matter what the view or discipline.