SIGHTS
Support columns and rebar sticking out of cement, stacks of lumber, steel-framed walls, sheets of plastic and tarps covering supplies or walling off dangerous areas, rented dumpsters, workers (in flak jackets and steel-toed boots, wearing safety glasses, ear protection and hardhats), a portable office trailer (for bigger construction sites), sheets of plasterboard, tables, bags of cement, sawhorses, stacks of PVC pipe, coils of hose and electrical wire, spools of rubber or plastic tubing, paint-splattered scaffolding that climbs up the structure’s side, an expandable garbage chute dropping into a dumpster, wood pallets (loaded with cinderblock, pipe, and roofing materials), dollies, small forklifts, new windows with stickers attached, duct and venting systems, ladders, railings, tar paper, a cement mixer, sanders, table saws, air compressors, wheelbarrows, large equipment (cranes, dump trucks, flatbed trucks delivering supplies, bulldozers), chemical toilets, gravel piles, buckets, tool chests, diagnostic and mechanical equipment, debris (nails, tags, stickers, ripped plastic sheeting, roofing paper, flattened cardboard boxes, water bottles, lumber ends, sawdust), a fence surrounding the site, safety signs, inspectors touring the site and making sure workers follow protocol
SOUNDS
The chug of heavy equipment engines, a back-up sensor beeping, the whine of air compressors and drills, hammers banging, a nail gun methodically thudding, boots clanking up metal staircases and clomping across wooden scaffold platforms, music drifting from a worker’s radio inside the structure, the high-pitched grinding of a saw cutting wood, a measuring tape retracting, blueprint plans being furled or unfurled, wind causing plastic sheeting and tarps to flap, construction workers yelling, the clang of metal on metal, lumber or piping being dropped, the hiss of gas from a lit torch, jack hammers busting up concrete, the creak of wood and wire as support beams are lifted into the air, ringing in the ears, the wet plop of concrete being poured, backhoes scraping through the dirt
SMELLS
Fresh-cut lumber, dirt and dust, burning plastic, smoke, vehicle exhaust, sawdust, the chalky scent of cut plasterboard and spackle, chemicals, glues and paint, body odor, cigarette smoke, overheating motors from electrical tools and equipment, metal, cement
TASTES
Some settings have no specific tastes associated with them beyond what the character might bring into the scene (chewing gum, coffee, cigarettes, etc.). For scenes like these, where specific tastes are sparse, it would be best to stick to descriptors from the other four senses.
TEXTURES AND SENSATIONS
Ear protectors mashing against one’s safety glasses, squinting to see through smudged glasses, sweat and dirt on the skin, the heat of a hardhat on a hot day, thick gloves rubbing against callouses and blisters, accidentally bashing a finger with one’s hammer, a jackhammer sending a quaking vibration throughout one’s body, slivers, cuts and scrapes, wiping sweat from a brow or the back of the neck, the vibration or jerk of air-powered tools or motorized equipment (cranes, forklifts, flatbed trucks, dump trucks, haulers), the weight of carrying an awkward or heavy load, sawdust covering a fresh cut of lumber, a measuring tape sliding through one’s fingers, maneuvering a level into place, the give of a shovel as it digs into mud or gravel, aches and pain that come with demanding physical labor, the balanced feel of a full tool belt slung around one’s hips
POSSIBLE SOURCES OF CONFLICT
Theft at the construction site
An injury or death onsite
Poor planning leading to a partial collapse
Rainfall flooding the site and ruining the foundation or equipment
An employer being caught altering the financial records
Hostilities between workers that break out in conflict or lead to sabotage
Vandalism
Digging the foundation and discovering human bones
Mistakes that affect one’s deadline
PEOPLE COMMONLY FOUND HERE
Construction workers, developers, engineers, food truck vendors, safety and building inspectors, truck and heavy equipment operators
RELATED SETTINGS THAT MAY TIE IN WITH THIS ONE
Rural Volume: Landfill
Urban Volume: Old pick-up truck
SETTING NOTES AND TIPS
Construction sites are highly specific to the type of project. The construction site of a new bridge will have different equipment and supplies than the site of a house being built, or even a hospital. There also might be a lot of “sprawl” onsite if the area is large, but operations tend to be more space-conscious within the city.
SETTING DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
Randy arrived early, his coffee steaming in the morning air. With the electrical crew rushing to make deadline the night before, he expected a mess of wire and plastic sheaths onsite. Instead he found crushed beer cans, red paintball marks all over the plasterboard, two chunky puddles of vomit, and an exploded chemical toilet. His coffee dropped at the sight of the Big Blue Turd on its side with a giant hole blasted out the bottom. Its lifeblood, sewage and chemicals, seeped into the gravel and chunks of blue plastic and feces covered a stack of windows awaiting install. Randy’s hands twitched with the desire to choke something. Not only was this going to be an expensive clean up, but the BBT had serviced too many jobs to deserve such a violent end.
Techniques and Devices Used: Multisensory descriptions, personification
Resulting Effects: Establishing mood, passage of time, reinforcing emotion, tension and conflict