Structural engineers sometimes debate what is more interesting and fun to work on:

horizontal or vertical construction. Horizontal construction generally refers to bridge

design, and vertical construction refers to design of buildings. To address this issue,
the author discusses a detailed survey he sent to some of his structural engineering
colleagues and the overwhelming responses he received. A common theme in
response was antipathy, to an extent, to working with architects. Horizontal
engineers usually don’t have to deal with architects and thus are in the driver’s seat.
Often, the overall project manager is a structural engineer. In contrast, for buildings,
structural analysis and design is a smaller overall component of the work. Structural
engineers working on the vertical team are used to architects running the show.
Which is preferred between vertical and horizontal construction?
It all depends on what you want to construct. But ideally, in layman's terms, vertical construction
would mean building upwards while horizontal, building across. Therefore, vertical construction work
will most likely rest on a smaller geographical area as
compared to vertical construction.
The lay understanding is fortunately not far from the
fact. At times, structural engineers argue on whether
horizontal or vertical construction is more exciting and
fun to work on. Well, horizontal construction mimics a
bridge, while vertical construction relates to how
buildings are designed.
Unlike vertical construction, engineers working on the
horizontal design do not need the services of an
architect. Horizontal construction projects are single-
handedly, managed by structural engineers. On the
other hand the vertical team is majorly managed by an
architect. This is because the design and structural analysis form a smaller fraction of the entire
vertical project.
In residential building with 9-ft tall walls, fitting the drywall in horizontal style can reduce the lineal
distance by up to 25 percent over vertical attachment. When delving on a stairwell or on the end wall
in a cathedral room, 2 places synonymous with higher walls, horizontal construction is your best
bet.
Areas such as top plates of walls and floor joists beams where studs meet the rafters, can be
traversed to ensure seams are situated off these regions. Horizontal attachment significantly fortifies
the structure, thus making seams to be at an ideal level for finishing.