Michael R. Lindeburg, PE
Civil
Civil
Engineering
Engineering
Reference
Reference
Manual
Manual
for the PE Exam
for the PE Exam
Thi
CIVIL ENGINEERING REFERENCE MANUAL FOR THE PE EXAM Thirteenth Edition
Current printing of this edition: 1 (electronic version)
Printing History edition printing
number number update
12 1 New edition. Major updates. Copyright update. 12 2 Minor corrections.
13 1 New edition. Codes update. Copyright update.
Copyright © 2012 by Professional Publications, Inc. (PPI). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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. . .
Topics
Topic I: Background and Support
Topic II: Water Resources
Topic III: Environmental
Topic IV: Geotechnical
Topic V: Structural
Topic VI: Transportation
Topic VII: Construction
Topic VIII: Systems, Management, and Professional
Topic IX: Support Material
Background and Water Resources Environmental Geotechnical Structural Transportation Construction
The Civil Engineering Reference Manual provides a knowledge base that will
prepare you for the Civil PE exam. But there’s no better way to exercise your skills
than to practice solving problems. To test your knowledge, you need Practice
Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam: A Companion to the Civil
Engineering Reference Manual. This essential study aid will challenge you with
more than 750 practice problems, each with a complete, step-by-step solution.
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PPI at www.ppi2pass.com or from your favorite bookstore.
Appendices Table of Contents. . . vii
Preface to the Thirteenth Edition. . . xi
Acknowledgments. . . xv
Codes Used to Prepare This Book . . . xvii
Introduction. . . xix
Topic I: Background and Support
Systems of Units . . . 1-1 Engineering Drawing Practice . . . 2-1 Algebra . . . 3-1 Linear Algebra . . . 4-1 Vectors . . . 5-1 Trigonometry . . . 6-1 Analytic Geometry . . . 7-1 Differential Calculus . . . 8-1 Integral Calculus . . . 9-1 Differential Equations . . . 10-1 Probability and Statistical Analysis of Data . . . 11-1 Numerical Analysis . . . 12-1 Energy, Work, and Power . . . 13-1
Topic II: Water Resources
Fluid Properties . . . 14-1 Fluid Statics . . . 15-1 Fluid Flow Parameters . . . 16-1 Fluid Dynamics . . . 17-1 Hydraulic Machines . . . 18-1 Open Channel Flow . . . 19-1 Meteorology, Climatology, and Hydrology . . . 20-1 Groundwater . . . 21-1 Inorganic Chemistry . . . 22-1 Organic Chemistry . . . 23-1 Combustion and Incineration . . . 24-1 Water Supply Quality and Testing . . . 25-1 Water Supply Treatment and Distribution . . . 26-1
Topic III: Environmental
Biochemistry, Biology, and Bacteriology . . . 27-1 Wastewater Quantity and Quality. . . 28-1 Wastewater Treatment: Equipment and Processes. . . 29-1 Activated Sludge and Sludge Processing . . . 30-1 Municipal Solid Waste . . . 31-1 Pollutants in the Environment . . . 32-1 Storage and Disposition of Hazardous Materials . . . 33-1 Environmental Remediation . . . 34-1
Topic IV: Geotechnical
Soil Properties and Testing . . . 35-1 Shallow Foundations . . . 36-1 Rigid Retaining Walls . . . 37-1 Piles and Deep Foundations . . . 38-1 Excavations . . . 39-1 Special Soil Topics . . . 40-1
Topic V: Structural
Determinate Statics . . . 41-1 Properties of Areas . . . 42-1 Material Testing . . . 43-1 Strength of Materials . . . 44-1 Basic Elements of Design . . . 45-1 Structural Analysis I . . . 46-1 Structural Analysis II . . . 47-1 Properties of Concrete and Reinforcing Steel . . . 48-1 Concrete Proportioning, Mixing, and Placing . . . 49-1 Reinforced Concrete: Beams . . . 50-1 Reinforced Concrete: Slabs. . . 51-1 Reinforced Concrete: Short Columns. . . 52-1 Reinforced Concrete: Long Columns . . . 53-1 Reinforced Concrete: Walls and Retaining Walls . . . 54-1 Reinforced Concrete: Footings . . . 55-1 Prestressed Concrete . . . 56-1 Composite Concrete and Steel Bridge Girders . . . 57-1 Structural Steel: Introduction. . . 58-1 Structural Steel: Beams. . . 59-1 Structural Steel: Tension Members . . . 60-1 Structural Steel: Compression Members . . . 61-1 Structural Steel: Beam-Columns . . . 62-1 Structural Steel: Built-Up Sections . . . 63-1 Structural Steel: Composite Beams . . . 64-1 Structural Steel: Connectors. . . 65-1 Structural Steel: Welding . . . 66-1 Properties of Masonry . . . 67-1 Masonry Walls . . . 68-1 Masonry Columns . . . 69-1
Topic VI: Transportation
Properties of Solid Bodies. . . 70-1 Kinematics . . . 71-1 Kinetics. . . 72-1 Roads and Highways: Capacity Analysis . . . 73-1 Bridges: Condition and Rating . . . 74-1 Vehicle Dynamics and Accident Analysis. . . 75-1 Flexible Pavement Design. . . 76-1 Rigid Pavement Design . . . 77-1 . . .
Plane Surveying . . . 78-1 Horizontal, Compound, Vertical, and Spiral Curves . . 79-1
Topic VII: Construction
Construction Earthwork . . . 80-1 Construction Staking and Layout . . . 81-1 Building Codes and Materials Testing . . . 82-1 Construction and Jobsite Safety . . . 83-1
Topic VIII: Systems, Management, and Professional
Electrical Systems and Equipment . . . 84-1 Instrumentation and Measurements. . . 85-1 Project Management, Budgeting, and Scheduling. . . . 86-1 Engineering Economic Analysis . . . 87-1 Professional Services, Contracts, and
Engineering Law . . . 88-1 Engineering Ethics . . . 89-1 Engineering Licensing in the United States . . . 90-1
Topic IX: Support Material
Appendices . . . A-1 Glossary . . . G-1 Index . . . I-1
1.A Conversion Factors . . . A-1 1.B Common SI Unit Conversion Factors . . . A-3 7.A Mensuration of Two-Dimensional Areas . . . A-7 7.B Mensuration of Three-Dimensional Volumes . . . A-9 9.A Abbreviated Table of Indefinite Integrals . . . . A-10 10.A Laplace Transforms . . . A-11 11.A Areas Under the Standard Normal Curve . . . . A-12 11.B Chi-Squared Distribution . . . A-13 11.C t-Distribution . . . A-14 14.A Properties of Water at Atmospheric Pressure
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-15 14.B Properties of Water at Atmospheric Pressure
(SI units) . . . A-16 14.C Viscosity of Water in Other Units
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-17 14.D Properties of Air at Atmospheric Pressure
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-18 14.E Properties of Air at Atmospheric Pressure
(SI units) . . . A-19 16.A Area, Wetted Perimeter, and Hydraulic Radius of
Partially Filled Circular Pipes . . . A-20 16.B Dimensions of Welded and Seamless Steel Pipe
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-21 16.C Dimensions of Welded and Seamless Steel Pipe
Schedules 40 and 80 (SI units) . . . A-25 16.D Dimensions of Small Diameter PVC Pipe
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-27 16.E Dimensions of Large Diameter PVC Sewer and
Water Pipe (customary U.S. units) . . . A-28 16.F Dimensions and Weights of Concrete Sewer Pipe
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-29 16.G Dimensions of Cast Iron Pipe
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-30 16.H Standard ANSI Piping Symbols . . . A-31 17.A Specific Roughness and Hazen-Williams
Constants for Various Water
Pipe Materials . . . A-32 17.B Darcy Friction Factors . . . A-33 17.C Water Pressure Drop in
Schedule-40 Steel Pipe . . . A-37 17.D Equivalent Length of Straight Pipe for
Various (Generic) Fittings . . . A-38 17.E Hazen-Williams Nomograph . . . A-39 18.A International Standard Atmosphere . . . A-40
18.B Properties of Saturated Steam by
Temperature (customary U.S. units) . . . A-41 18.C Properties of Superheated Steam
(customary U.S. units) . . . A-44 19.A Manning’s Roughness Coefficient . . . A-46 19.B Manning Equation Nomograph . . . A-47 19.C Circular Channel Ratios . . . A-48 19.D Critical Depths in Circular Channels . . . A-49 19.E Conveyance Factor, K . . . A-50 19.F Conveyance Factor, K⬘ . . . A-52 20.A Rational Method Runoff C-Coefficients . . . A-54 20.B Random Numbers . . . A-55 22.A Atomic Numbers and Weights of
the Elements . . . A-56 22.B Water Chemisty CaCO3Equivalents . . . A-57 22.C Saturation Values of Dissolved Oxygen
in Water . . . A-59 22.D Names and Formulas of Important
Chemicals . . . A-60 22.E Approximate Solubility Product
Constants at 25⬚C . . . A-61 24.A Heats of Combustion for Common
Compounds . . . A-64 24.B Approximate Properties of Selected Gases . . . A-65 25.A National Primary Drinking Water
Regulations . . . A-66 26.A Properties of Chemicals Used in Water
Treatment . . . A-73 29.A Selected Ten States’ Standards . . . A-74 35.A USCS Soil Boring, Well, and Geotextile
Symbols . . . A-76 37.A Active Components for Retaining Walls
(straight slope backfill) . . . A-78 37.B Active Components for Retaining Walls
(broken slope backfill) . . . A-79 37.C Curves for Determining Active and Passive
Earth Pressure Coefficients, kaand kp(with inclined wall face, , wall friction, ␦, and
horizontal backfill) . . . A-80 37.D Curves for Determining Active and Passive
Pressures, kaand kp(with vertical face,
wall friction, ␦, and sloping backfill) . . . A-81 . . .
40.A Boussinesq Stress Contour Chart
(infinitely long and square footings) . . . A-82 40.B Boussinesq Stress Contour Chart (uniformly
loaded circular footings) . . . A-83 42.A Centroids and Area Moments of Inertia
for Basic Shapes . . . A-84 43.A Typical Properties of Structural Steel,
Aluminum, and Magnesium . . . A-85 43.B Typical Mechanical Properties of
Representative Metals . . . A-86 44.A Elastic Beam Deflection Equations . . . A-89 45.A Properties of Weld Groups . . . A-93 47.A Elastic Fixed-End Moments . . . A-94 47.B Indeterminate Beam Formulas . . . A-96 47.C Moment Distribution Worksheet . . . A-101 48.A ASTM Standards for Wire Reinforcement . . . A-102 52.A Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.60 (round, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-103 52.B Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.70 (round, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-104 52.C Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.75 (round, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-105 52.D Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.80 (round, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-106 52.E Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.90 (round, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-107 52.F Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.60 (square, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-108 52.G Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.70 (square, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-109 52.H Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.75 (square, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-110 52.I Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.80 (square, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-111 52.J Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.90 (square, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-112 52.K Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.60 (uniplane, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-113 52.L Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.70 (uniplane, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-114
52.M Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram, ␥ ⫽ 0.75 (uniplane, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-115 52.N Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.80 (uniplane, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-116 52.O Reinforced Concrete Interaction Diagram,
␥ ⫽ 0.90 (uniplane, 4 ksi concrete,
60 ksi steel) . . . A-117 58.A Common Structural Steels . . . A-118 58.B Properties of Structural Steel at
High Temperatures . . . A-119 59.A Values of Cbfor Simply-Supported Beams . . A-120 68.A Section Properties of Masonry
Horizontal Cross Sections . . . A-121 68.B Section Properties of Masonry
Vertical Cross Sections . . . A-123 68.C Ungrouted Wall Section Properties . . . A-125 68.D Grouted Wall Section Properties . . . A-126 69.A Column Interaction Diagram
(compression controls, g⫽ 0.4) . . . A-127 69.B Column Interaction Diagram
(compression controls, g⫽ 0.6) . . . A-128 69.C Column Interaction Diagram
(compression controls, g⫽ 0.8) . . . A-129 69.D Column Interaction Diagram
(tension controls, g⫽ 0.4) . . . A-130 69.E Column Interaction Diagram
(tension controls, g⫽ 0.6) . . . A-131 69.F Column Interaction Diagram
(tension controls, g⫽ 0.8) . . . A-132 70.A Mass Moments of Inertia . . . A-133 76.A Axle Load Equivalency Factors
for Flexible Pavements
(single axles and ptof 2.5) . . . A-134 76.B Axle Load Equivalency Factors
for Flexible Pavements
(tandem axles and ptof 2.5) . . . A-135 76.C Axle Load Equivalency Factors
for Flexible Pavements
(triple axles and ptof 2.5) . . . A-136 77.A Axle Load Equivalency Factors
for Rigid Pavements
(single axles and ptof 2.5) . . . A-137 77.B Axle Load Equivalency Factors
for Rigid Pavements
(double axles and ptof 2.5) . . . A-138 77.C Axle Load Equivalency Factors
for Rigid Pavements
78.A Oblique Triangle Equations . . . A-140 84.A Polyphase Motor
Classifications and Characteristics . . . A-141 84.B DC and Single-Phase Motor
Classifications and Characteristics . . . A-142 85.A Thermoelectric Constants for
Thermocouples . . . A-143 87.A Standard Cash Flow Factors . . . A-145 87.B Cash Flow Equivalent Factors . . . A-146
...
As I mentioned in the preface to the twelfth edition, I am chagrined to admit that I never read a single preface while I was in college. Out of the prefaces of 100 or so textbooks written by famous, witty, clever, dedicated, and famous experts, I never read a single word. Since then, I’ve added hundreds of additional books to my library, and I’ve only read a few of their prefaces. I certainly have never written to an author and said, “Hey, I loved your preface.” Nor have I ever received such a communication about any book that I have written. So, why does a book even need a preface? The preface usually explains (a) why the author wanted to write the book, (b) why the book turned out the way it did, and (c) how the book differs from the previous edition. Whereas subsequent chapters after the preface constitute a book’s brain, the preface constitutes a book’s heart and soul. You don’t have to read its preface for a book to have utility. The real“value” is in the subsequent chapters. However, if you want a special connection with the book, if you want to get inside the author’s head, if you want to feel what you are learning, you should start by reading its preface.
New books are written for a variety of reasons; new editions less so. Typically, new editions are written to replace old editions that have become somehow inadequate. Although I’ve read some that come close, authors don’t intentionally write books to be inadequate when they are first published; instead, their books just evolve into obsolescence and inadequacy over time. Now and then, however, the reason behind publishing a new edition is more complex.
For example, sometimes a perfectly good book can become suddenly obsolete due to an external event. This book has had many “sudden” new editions (and this thirteenth edition is no exception), which were triggered by some change to the civil PE exam. Typical exam changes that have required publishing a new edition of this book include revisions to the codes and standards on which the civil PE exam is based, as well as changes to the exam’s body of knowledge, format, administra-tion, and emphasis on (i.e., number of questions for) each subject.
Other times, new editions are driven by authors’ desire to add new material or to improve preexisting material. Sometimes they’re driven by a need to incorporate accu-mulated corrections.
Rarely, due to the huge amount of work involved, new editions are initiated when a publisher changes the
methods or technology it uses for producing (typeset-ting, illustra(typeset-ting, etc.) its books. For example, decades ago, PPI brought out new editions when it stopped inking illustrations with Rapidograph pens and started rendering illustrations electronically. That hardly seems like big news these days. Slightly less in the dark ages was PPI’s adoption of Donald Knuth’s then-revolutionary TeX programming lan-guage for typesetting complex mathematical material, as well as the use of XML and MathML for anything that was destined for access via the internet. More recently, the twelfth edition of this book was the first to be published out of PPI’s proprietary online book development and maintenance system affectionately known as OBDAMS. Without these advances in pub-lishing technology, you’d still be holding a book pro-duced on a typewriter with rub-down characters for anything more complex than qwertyuiop.
This thirteenth edition of the Civil Engineering Refer-ence Manual represents a complex agglomeration of the reasons mentioned: revisions to exam codes and stan-dards, addition of new and improved material, changes in how the exam is administered, and new publication technology.
The reasons this thirteenth edition turned out the way that it did are as complex as the reasons why it was written in the first place. First, like its predecessors, this edition was developed in an ethical and professional manner. This means that only the NCEES published outline of exam subjects guided me when I wrote this edition. It may seem strange to you that a book designed to help you pass the civil PE exam would not be based on the actual exam content; however, though not associated with NCEES in any way, both PPI and I share its pas-sion for exam security. Therefore, no actual exam content is present in this book.
Second, as a professional engineer, I understand it is my responsibility to protect the public, while still helping qualified applicants to prepare for their future careers as engineers. This means that to help you review and learn the engineering concepts necessary to pass the civil PE exam (and thus, go on to protect the public), PPI went far beyond industry standards in getting content checked and reviewed, edited, and proofread.
Finally, this book is the way that it is because I wrote it to be the kind of textbook I would want to help me learn the concepts needed to pass the civil PE exam. You won’t have to go very far to find someone who will tell
you that this book goes far beyond the subjects covered on the civil PE exam. This is true. I have my own idea of what engineering concepts the civil PE exam should cover, and I’ve woven those concepts into this book. You may disagree with this practice. Indeed, history has shown that my expectations of what an engineer with a minimum of four years of experience should know are very high. (You would probably have to read trade and industry publications every day to have the knowl-edge that I want you to have when you go in to take your civil PE exam.) However, I’ve incorporated those concepts because I don’t just want you to review or learn“some engineering” from this book. Instead, I want you to actually be a better engineer for having read it. Think of passing your exam as icing on the cake of being a great engineer.
Regardless of why I wrote this edition, or why this edition turned out the way that it did, inevitably, PPI’s Custo-mer Care (what PPI calls “Customer Service”) depart-ment will need to answer the pre-purchase questions such as,“What has changed?” and, “Do I really need to pur-chase this book?” and, “I have the 6th edition. Can I use it?” This department also has to deal with irate custo-mers who purchased the previous edition 17 months ago and swear they would have waited if they had known that Michael Lindeburg was writing a new edition. (Hey, Everyone: I’m always writing a new edition. But, only the publisher knows when it is coming out.)
To answer those questions and to help the Customer Care department answer such questions, I’m writing this script: “Yes. You absolutely need to get this new edition. The author didn’t write it for nothing. He wrote it because the exam changed. He wrote it because it is better. He wrote it because it’s more helpful, easier to understand, more complete, and better organized. This edition differs from the 6th (or, 7th, or 8th, etc.) edition in several hundred thousand ways. No, a zillion ways. You won’t know everything that’s changed, but you will benefit from the changes. You don’t use obsolete technology like a buggy whip, leaded fuel, a rotary-dial phone, carbon paper, or an IBM Selectric typewriter any more, do you? Instead, you drive a motorized car, use unleaded fuel, talk‘hands-free’ on your cell phone, send emails (from this same phone!), and type on your perso-nal laptop. The iPad™ has changed your life, and so will this book. Still not convinced you need this edition? Let me put it another way: You wouldn’t study for your driver’s license test using a 1968 copy of the DMV laws, would you? No, you wouldn’t. So, why then, would you take a book based on obsolete material into the most important examination of your career? Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish. In fact, don’t be foolish, period. You need this thirteenth edition.”
To satisfy the marketing department, which inevitably wants to know what’s changed since the twelfth edition, I’ll say: “This book is completely consistent with the NCEES exam content and breadth-and-depth format, and it is equally representative of the codes and stan-dards NCEES has adopted for the exam. In fact, the
largest replacement of content that took place in this edition occurred in order to make material consistent with the NCEES-adopted codes and standards. (The actual codes and standards used by this book are listed in this book’s “Codes Used to Prepare This Book” sec-tion of the front matter.)”
The revisions to the structural chapters reflect NCEES’ reliance on specific editions and releases of ACI 318, ACI 530 and 530.1, AISC Steel Construction Manual, ASCE7, the IBC, NDS, the PCI Design Handbook, and AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications. For concrete, solutions based on ACI 318 App. C may no longer be used on the exam. Therefore, those methods and their accompanying examples have been removed from this edition. This book provides solutions using only ACI 318 Chap. 9 (the so-called“unified”) methods. For steel, you may still use either LRFD or ASD on the exam. Therefore, this book presents both solving meth-ods in parallel so regardless of which method you choose to study—strength design or allowable stress design— you will be supported.
For masonry, only ASD may be used on the exam, with the exception that strength design (SD) Sec. 3.3.5 may be used for walls with out-of-plane loads. This book provides ASD solutions, followed by SD solutions for additional reference.
I have added a new chapter covering some bridge topics. Bridge rating is not specifically identified by NCEES as an exam subject, although bits and pieces of bridge design, analysis, and construction are implicit in other civil engineering activities that are covered on the exam. Given the great likelihood of future transportation fund-ing shortfalls, even with the ongofund-ing dedicated and noble efforts of our state DOTs, I feel that all profes-sional engineers should be able to speak about the U.S. transportation infrastructure. This new bridges chapter is a stub that I intend to continue to flesh out in future editions according to my own observations.
The transportation chapters reflect NCEES’ reliance on specific editions of AASHTO A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book), AASHTO Roadside Design Guide, FHA Manual on Uniform Traf-fic Control Devices (MUTCD), ITE TrafTraf-fic Engineering Handbook, NRC Highway Capacity Manual, and PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures. Revised edi-tions of AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Struc-tures and AI Asphalt Handbook have been reinstated by NCEES as exam design standards, and the Flexible Pavement Design and Rigid Pavement Design chapters in this book are based on these reinstated editions. The construction chapters reflect NCEES’ reliance on specific editions of ACI 318, ACI 347, ACI SP-4, AISC Steel Construction Manual, ASCE 37, NDS, CMWB Standard Practice for Bracing Masonry Walls During Construction, and OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry.
These chapters include additional material to make them more consistent with NCEES’ revised construction design standards. Still, the majority of what NCEES considers to be “construction” was already present in this book and continues to be covered in other chapters. Earthwork, foundations, slope stability, compaction, temporary structures, and other geotechnical subjects are in their own chapters, as are formwork, engineering economics, construction law, and many other construc-tion subjects. Although there is no single chapter titled “Construction” that contains everything NCEES thinks you should know, this book presents the Construction topic to the same degree of detail as other topics— regardless of where you read it.
Sidebar S.1 contains the statistics of what distinguishes this edition from the previous editions.
Sidebar S.1. New Edition Statistics new chapters, 1
chapters with new material, 10 chapters with revisions to existing material, 31 new equations, 13 revised equations, 51 new tables, 2 revised tables, 15 new examples, 5 revised examples, 19 new appendices, 0 revised appendices, 3 new figures, 6 revised figures, 13 new index entries, 130
You and I are associates in the same honorable profes-sion, and we’re also members of the same species. In those regards, we exist to help each other. Helping you review and learn the subjects in the chapters that follow was always foremost in my mind. I considered helping you conduct an ethical review that you could be proud of in every word that I wrote. This book is proof that I’ve been here for you. Now, you need to go out and do your best to serve humanity, and that starts by passing your PE exam.
...
Every new edition is a lot of work, for someone. Some-times, as when new content is needed, the work of bring-ing out a new edition falls to the author; sometimes the work falls to the publisher’s editorial and production staff, as when existing content is reformatted and reor-ganized; and sometimes the work falls to one or more subject matter experts, as when specialized knowledge is required to integrate changes in standards, codes, and federal legislation. Sometimes, one player shoulders a disproportionate share of the load; sometimes one player gets off easier than another.
This thirteenth edition was one of those new editions where a lot of people contributed. If anything, the author (and, my hand is up) got off the easiest. Yes, there is new content. However, the biggest content changes were updates to the concrete and masonry chapters. Regarding those changes, this book is the beneficiary of James W. Giancaspro, PhD, PE, and Andy Richardson, PE. Dr. Giancaspro, assistant profes-sor of civil engineering at the University of Miami, who recently had his own exam preparation book, Structural Depth Practice Exams for the Civil PE Exam, published by PPI, revised the concrete chapters in accordance with ACI 318-08. Mr. Richardson, a practicing struc-tural engineer in private practice (Strucstruc-tural Innova-tions, LLC, Beaufort, SC), who has just finished conducting an online civil engineering review course for PPI, updated the masonry chapters to be consistent with ACI 530-08 and the IBC. PPI’s own Megan Syn-nestvedt, a civil engineer and project manager, updated the concrete chapters to be consistent with the fifth edition of the LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and reviewed and revised my new chapter on bridge rating. James, Andy, and Megan helped PPI get this new edi-tion into print before the next examinaedi-tion, and their expertise helped me ensure that the updates were com-plete and accurate.
The editorial and production departments of many large publishers are giant clearinghouses where the managing editors are one-star generals coordinating armies of outside independent editors, illustrators, typesetters, and other sundry contractors. Not so at PPI. This edition, as all previous editions, was pro-duced entirely in-house. Julia White was the four-star general—this book’s editorial project manager. She coordinated the work of other internal PPI editors, engineers, illustrators, designers, typesetters, proof-readers, and paginators. She was the buck-stops-here
editor and proofreader, and accordingly, there isn’t a symbol, comma, or line that she didn’t review and measure against her internal scales of accuracy and precision. Considering that she started as a copy edi-tor only a year and a half ago, Julia’s advancement and assignment to this important project are indica-tions of what she has already shown herself capable and of the confidence that PPI has in her.
As I mentioned, sometimes the lion’s share of the work falls to the publisher due to a reorganization of existing material. Two of the changes to this book (those of adding a new chapter and of removing all structural concrete content that used ACI 318 App. C method-ology) required extensive reformatting, repagination, and reindexing of existing content. Julia had her own army of publishing professionals—they were just all in the same building. Each followed the battle plan by exhibiting subject comprehension and militarily precise adherence to style, attention to detail, and consistency. I’ll list them by function, in alphabetical order, and I hope that each knows that I understand and appreci-ate his/her contribution.
Paginating: Tom Bergstrom, Kate Hayes, Tyler Hayes, Chelsea Logan, Scott Marley, and Magnolia Molcan Proofreading: William Bergstrom, Lisa Devoto Farrell, Tyler Hayes, Chelsea Logan, Scott Marley, Magnolia Molcan, and Bonnie Thomas
Illustrating: Tom Bergstrom, Kate Hayes, and Amy Schwertman La Russa
Calculation checking: Andrew Chan and Todd Fisher Cover design: Amy Schwertman La Russa
Management: Sarah Hubbard, Director of Product Development and Implementation, and Cathy Schrott, Production Services Manager
Continuing with the military analogy, this edition incor-porates the comments, questions, suggestions, and errata submitted by many people on the battlefront who have used the previous edition for their own preparations. As an author, I am humbled to know that these individuals have read the previous edition in such detail as to notice typos, illogic, and other errata, and that they subse-quently took the time to share their observations with me. Their suggestions have been incorporated into this edition, and their attention to detail will benefit you and
all future readers. The following is a partial list (again in alphabetical order), of some of the soldiers who have improved this book through their comments.
Mohamed Ahmed; Don Durst; Million
Habtemariam; Gilbert Huff; Nicholas Loder; Ben Schmidt; Andrew Swedberg; James Tehero; Waldon Wong
This edition shares a common developmental heritage with all of its previous editions. There are hundreds and hundreds of additional people that I mentioned by name in the acknowledgments of those books. They’re not forgotten, and their names will live on in the tens of thousands of old editions that remain in widespread circulation. For this edition, though, there isn’t a single contributor that I intentionally excluded. Still, I could have slipped up and forgotten to mention you. I hope you’ll let me know if you should have been credited, but were inadvertently left out. I’d appreciate the opportunity to list your name in the next printing of this edition.
Near the end of the acknowledgments, after mentioning a lot of people who contributed to the book and, there-fore, could be blamed for a variety of types of errors, it is common for an author to say something like, “I take responsibility for all of the errors you find in this book.” Or,“All of the mistakes are mine.” This is certainly true, given the process of publishing, since the author sees and approves the final version before his/her book goes to the printer. You would think that after 35 years of writing, I would have figured out by now how to write something without making a mistake and how to proof-read without missing those blunders that are so obvious to readers. However, such perfection continues to elude me. So, yes, the finger points straight at me.
All I can say instead is that I’ll do my best to respond to any suggestions and errata that you report through PPI’s website, www.ppi2pass.com/errata. I’d love to see your name in the acknowledgments for the next edition. Thank you, everyone!
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The information that was used to write and update this book was based on the exam specifications at the time of publication. However, as with engineering practice itself, the PE examination is not always based on the most current codes or cutting-edge technology. Similarly, codes, standards, and regulations adopted by state and local agencies often lag issuance by several years. It is likely that the codes that are most current, the codes that you use in practice, and the codes that are the basis of your exam will all be different.
PPI lists on its website the dates and editions of the codes, standards, and regulations on which NCEES has announced the PE exams are based. It is your respon-sibility to find out which codes are relevant to your exam. In the meantime, here are the codes that have been incorporated into this edition.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN STANDARDS
AASHTO: AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifica-tions, Fifth ed., 2010, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, DC ACI 318:1Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete, 2008, American Concrete Institute, Farm-ington Hills, MI
ACI 530:2 Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures, 2008, and ACI 530.1: Specifications for Masonry Structures, 2008, American Concrete Insti-tute, Detroit, MI
AISC:3 Steel Construction Manual, Thirteenth ed., 2005, American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc., Chicago, IL
ASCE7: Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, 2005, American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA
IBC: International Building Code, 2009 ed. (without supplements), International Code Council, Inc., Falls Church, VA
NDS:4 National Design Specification for Wood Con-struction ASD/LRFD, 2005 ed., and National Design Specification Supplement, Design Values for Wood Construction, 2005 ed., American Forest & Paper Asso-ciation/American Wood Council, Washington, DC PCI: PCI Design Handbook: Precast and Prestressed Concrete, Sixth ed., 2004, Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, Chicago, IL
TRANSPORTATION DESIGN STANDARDS AASHTO: AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures (GDPS-4-M), 1993, and 1998 supplement, American Association of State Highway and Transpor-tation Officials, Washington, DC
AASHTO: A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, Fifth ed., 2004, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washing-ton, DC
AASHTO: Roadside Design Guide, Third ed., 2002, with 2006 Chapter 6 update, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washing-ton, DC
AI: The Asphalt Handbook (MS-4), Seventh ed., 2007, Asphalt Institute, Lexington, KY
HCM: Highway Capacity Manual (HCM 2000), 2000 ed. (with changes adopted through November 14, 2007), Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, DC
ITE: Traffic Engineering Handbook, Sixth ed., 2009, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington, DC MUTCD: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 2009, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC
PCA: Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures, Four-teenth ed., 2002, (rev. 2008), Portland Cement Associa-tion, Skokie, IL
CONSTRUCTION DESIGN STANDARDS ACI 318: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete, 2008, American Concrete Institute, Farm-ington Hills, MI
1
ACI 318 App. C may not be used on the exam.
2
Allowable stress design (ASD) methods must be used on the exam, except that strength design (SD) Sec. 3.3.5 may be used for walls with out-of-plane loads.
3
Either ASD or LRFD may be used on the exam.
4
ACI 347: Guide to Formwork for Concrete, 2004, Amer-ican Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI (in ACI SP-4, Seventh ed. appendix)
ACI SP-4: Formwork for Concrete, Seventh ed., 2005, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI AISC: Steel Construction Manual, Thirteenth ed., 2005, American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc., Chicago, IL
ASCE 37: Design Loads on Structures During Con-struction, 2002, American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, VA
CMWB: Standard Practice for Bracing Masonry Walls Under Construction, 2001, Council for Masonry Wall Bracing, Mason Contractors Association of America, Lombard, IL
MUTCD-Pt 6: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices—Part 6, “Temporary Traffic Control,” 2009, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Highway Admin-istration, Washington, DC
NDS: National Design Specification for Wood Construc-tion ASD/LRFD, 2005 ed., American Forest & Paper Association/American Wood Council, Washington, DC OSHA: Safety and Health Regulations for the Construc-tion Industry, 29 CFR Part 1926 (U.S. Federal version), U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC
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PART 1: HOW YOU CAN USE THIS
BOOK
QUICKSTART
If you never read the material at the front of your books anyway, and if you’re in a hurry to begin and only want to read one paragraph, here it is:
Most chapters in this book are independent. Start with any one and look through it. Use the index extensively. Decide if you are going to work ques-tions in that subject. If so, buy a book of practice problems and solve as many problems in that subject as time allows. Don’t stop studying until the exam. Start right now! Quickly! Good luck. However, if you want to begin a thorough review, you should probably try to find out everything there is to know about the PE exam. The rest of this introduction is for you.
IF YOU ARE A PRACTICING ENGINEER If you are a practicing engineer or an engineering major and have obtained this book as a general reference hand-book, it will probably sit in your bookcase until you have a specific need.
However, if you are preparing for the PE examination in civil engineering, the following suggestions may help. . Find out the current edition of this book. You might
be reading this book long after it was published. Newer editions mean that older editions are no longer appropriate for the current exam. Newer editions mean that the codes, standards, and regulations on which the exam is based are not represented in the older edition, that the exam body of knowledge has changed, and/or the exam format and policies have changed. New editions are pub-lished for a reason, and it’s not reasonable for you to expect the older edition to serve your needs when it is out of date.
. Be reasonable in what you expect from this book. Much like any textbook, this book is a compilation of material designed to help you learn certain sub-jects—in this case, subjects on the exam. This book does not contain“everything” that you need to know to pass the exam, particularly the afternoon part of the exam. (PPI has published reference manuals
specifically for the afternoon parts.) You will need to assemble a library of other references. This book is not a substitute for the experience, general knowl-edge, and judgment that engineers are expected to demonstrate on the exam. This book will help you learn subjects. It won’t help you pass the exam if you go into the exam unprepared or undeserving to pass. . Become intimately familiar with this book. This means knowing the order of the chapters, the approx-imate locations of important figures and tables, what appendices are available, and so on.
. Use the subject title tabs along the side of each page. The tab names correspond to the exam organization. . Use Table 1 and Table 2 of this Introduction to learn which subjects in this book are not specific exam subjects. Some chapters in this book are sup-portive and do not cover specific exam topics. These chapters provide background and support for the other chapters.
. Some engineers read every page in a chapter. Some merely skim through a chapter and its appendices. In either case, you must familiarize yourself with the subjects before starting to solve practice problems. . Identify and obtain a set of 10–30 solved practice
problems for each of the exam subjects. I have writ-ten an accompanying book, Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam, for this purpose. Other resources include the Civil Engineering Sample Examination, books in the Six-Minute series, and the Civil PE Exam Cafe, all published by PPI. You may use problem sets from your old textbooks, col-lege notes, or review course if they are more conven-ient. Regardless of the books you use, you should know that you will encounter two types of problems. Some problems look like examination problems. They are short and have multiple-choice answers. This type of problem is good for familiarizing yourself with the exam format. However, it is not ideal for exposing you to the integration of multiple concepts in prob-lem solving, for familiarizing you with this book, and for making sure you have seen all of the “gotchas” that are possible in a subject. To address those requirements, you’ll need some longer problems. Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam contains both types of problems.
. Most of the problems in Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam are presented in both U.S. (English) and SI units. Initially, work through
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the problems in U.S. units. (All structural engineer-ing problems on the exam use U.S. units.) If you have time at the end of your review, start over and solve all of the problems in SI units.
. Set a reasonable limit on the time you spend on each subject. It isn’t necessary to solve an infinite number of practice problems. The number of practice prob-lems you attempt will depend on how much time you have and how skilled you are in the subject.
. Use the solutions to your practice problems to check your work. If your answer isn’t correct, figure out why. . When working in customary U.S. (English) units, you will find equations in this book in which the quantity g=gc appears. For calculations at standard gravity, the numerical value of this fraction is 1.00. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate this quantity only in calculations with a nonstandard gravity or when you are being meticulous with units.
. To minimize time spent in searching for often-used formulas and data, prepare a one-page summary of all the important formulas and information in each subject area. You can then use these summaries during the examination instead of searching in this book. You may want to consider Quick Reference for the Civil Engineering PE Exam, which PPI has pub-lished for this type of use.
. Use the index extensively. Every significant term, law, theorem, and concept has been indexed in every conceivable way—backwards and forwards—using fuzzy logic synonyms in anticipation of frantic exam searches. If you don’t recognize a term used, look for it in the index. Many engineers bring a separate copy of the index with them to the exam.
. Some subjects appear in more than one chapter. (Construction engineering is a good example of a subject that resists single-chapter organization.) Use the index liberally to learn all there is to know about a particular subject.
IF YOU ARE AN INSTRUCTOR
The first two editions of this book consisted of a series of handouts prepared for the benefit of my PE review courses. These editions were intended to be compilations of all the long formulas, illustrations, and tables of data that I did not have time to put on the chalkboard. You can use this edition in the same way.
If you are teaching a review course for the PE exam-ination without the benefit of recent, firsthand exam experience, you can use the material in this book as a guide to prepare your lectures. To make your prepara-tion easier, PPI has developed the Civil PE Exam Review Course Manual, which is available for down-load at www.ppi2pass.com/CERC. The Review Course Manual is organized into 15 lessons that are derived from the chapters in this book. Each lesson
includes instructor notes, lesson plans, and visual aids. Additional example and practice problems are also included and may be assigned as homework. Because each lesson focuses on those aspects of civil engineering that are most important for the civil PE exam, you should emphasize only the subjects in each lesson and avoid subjects omitted. You can feel confident that major subjects omitted from the Review Course Man-ual have rarely, if ever, appeared on the PE exam. I have always tried to overprepare my students. For that reason, the homework problems (i.e., example and practice problems) are often more difficult and more varied than actual examination questions. Also, you will appreciate the fact that it is more efficient to cover several procedural steps in one problem than to ask simple “one-liners” or definition questions. That is the reason that the example and homework problems are often harder and longer than actual exam problems. To do all the homework for some chapters requires approximately 15 to 20 hours. If you are covering one or more chapters per week, that’s a lot of homework per week. “Capacity assignment” is the goal in my review courses. If you assign 20 hours of homework and a student is able to put in only 10 hours that week, that student will have worked to his or her capacity. After the PE examination, that student will honestly say that he or she could not have prepared any more than he or she did in your course. For that reason, you have to assign homework on the basis of what is required to become proficient in the subjects of your lecture. You must resist assigning only the homework that you think can be completed in an arbitrary number of hours. Homework assignments in my review courses are not individually graded. Instead, students are permitted to make use of existing solutions to learn procedures and techniques to the problems in their homework set, such as those in the accompanying Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam, which contains solutions to all practice problems. However, each student must turn in a completed set of problems for credit each week. Though I don’t correct the homework problems, I address special needs or questions written on the assignments. I believe that students should start preparing for the PE exam at least six months before the examination date. However, most wait until three or four months before getting serious. Because of that, I have found that a 13- or 14-week format works well for a live PE review course. It’s a little rushed, but the course is over before everyone gets bored with my jokes. Each week, there is a three-hour meeting, which includes lecture and a short break. Table 1 outlines a course format that might work for you. If you can add more course time, your students will appreciate it. Another lecture covering water resources or environmental engineering would be wonderful. However, I don’t think you can cover the full breadth of material in much less time or in many fewer weeks.
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Table 1 Typical PE Exam Review Course Format
meeting subject covered chapters 1 Introduction to the Exam, Engineering Economics 87, 90 2 Fluids, Conduit Flow, and Pumps 14–18 3 Open Channel Flow 19 4 Hydrology 20, 21 5 Water Supply 25, 26 6 Wastewater and the Environment 28–30, 31–34 7 Soils, Foundations, Settlement, and Retaining Walls 35–40 8 Surveying and Concrete Mixing 78, 49 9 Highway Design and Traffic Analysis 73, 75, 79 10 Construction Engineering 80–83 11 Mechanics of Materials 41–47 12 Concrete Design 48–50 13 Steel Design 59, 61, 62
I have tried to order the subjects in a logical, progres-sive manner, keeping my eye on “playing the high-probability subjects.” I cover the subjects that every-one can learn (e.g., fluids and soils) early in the course. I leave the subjects that only daily practitioners should attempt (e.g., concrete, steel, and highway capacity) to the end.
Lecture coverage of some examination subjects is neces-sarily brief; other subjects are not covered at all. These omissions are intentional; they are not the result of scheduling omissions. Why? First, time is not on our side in a review course. Second, some subjects rarely contribute to the examination. Third, some subjects are not well-received by the students. For example, I have found that very few people try to become proficient in bridges, timber, and masonry if they don’t already work in those areas. Most nonstructural civil engineers stick with the nonstructural basics: fluids, soils, survey-ing, water supply, and wastewater. Most structural engineers stick with structural subjects. Unless you have six months in which to teach your PE review, your students’ time can be better spent covering other subjects.
All the skipped chapters and any related practice prob-lems are presented as floating assignments to be made up in the students’“free time.”
I strongly believe in exposing my students to a realistic sample examination, but I no longer administer an in-class mock exam. Since the review course usually ends only a few days before the real PE examination, I hesitate to make students sit for several hours in the late evening to take a“final exam.” Rather, I distribute and assign a take-home sample exam at the first meet-ing of the review course.
If the practice test is to be used as an indication of preparedness, caution your students not to even look at the sample exam prior to taking it. Looking at the sample examination, or otherwise using it to direct their review, will produce unwarranted specialization in sub-jects contained in the sample examination.
There are many ways to organize a PE review course, depending on your available time, budget, intended audience, facilities, and enthusiasm. However, all good course formats have the same result: The students struggle with the workload during the course, and then they breeze through the examination after the course.
PART 2: EVERYTHING YOU EVER
WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE
PE EXAM
WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE PE EXAM? The NCEES PE examination in civil engineering consists of two four-hour sessions separated by a one-hour lunch period. The morning“breadth” (a.m.) session is taken by all examinees. There are five afternoon “depth” (p.m.) modules: water resources and environmental, geotechni-cal, structural, transportation, and construction. (The depth modules may be referred to as“discipline-specific,” or DS, modules, borrowing a term from the FE exam.) You must be approved by your state licensing board before you can register for the exam using the NCEES Examinee Management System. You must select which depth module you will take when you register for the exam. At the exam, you will receive the examination booklet for the depth module you selected during regis-tration. Switching modules is not permitted. Your answer sheet will be scored based on the module you selected during registration, so do not try to switch modules the day of the exam.
Both the morning and afternoon sessions contain 40 ques-tions in multiple-choice (i.e.,“objective”) format. As this is a“no-choice” exam, you must answer all questions in each session correctly to receive full credit. There are no optional questions.
WHAT SUBJECTS ARE ON THE PE EXAM? NCEES has published a description of subjects on the examination. Irrespective of the published examination
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structure, the exact number of questions that will appear in each subject area cannot be predicted reliably. There is no guarantee that any single subject will occur in any quantity. One of the reasons for this is that some of the questions span several disciplines. You might consider a pump selection question to come from the subject of fluids, while someone else might categorize it as engineering economics.
Table 2 describes the subjects in detail. Most examinees find the list to be formidable in appearance. The percent-age breakdowns in Table 2 are according to NCEES, but these percentages are approximate. NCEES adds,
The examination is developed with questions that require a variety of approaches and meth-odologies including design, analysis, application, and operations. Some questions may require knowledge of engineering economics. These areas are examples of the kinds of knowledge that will be tested but are not exclusive or exhaustive categories.
As you can see, the subjects in morning and afternoon sessions overlap. However, the depth of required knowl-edge within and between sessions is not consistent. Therefore, Table 2 provides some guidance as to just “what” each of these subjects means.
WHAT IS THE TYPICAL QUESTION FORMAT? Almost all of the questions are standalone—that is, they are completely independent. However, NCEES allows that some sets of questions may start with a statement of a“situation” that will apply to (typically) two to five following questions. Such grouped questions are increas-ingly rare, however.
Since the questions are multiple-choice in design, all required data should appear in the situation statement. You will not generally be required to come up with numerical data that might affect your success on the question. There will be superfluous information in the majority of questions.
Each of the questions will have four answer options, labeled“A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.” If the answer options are numerical, they will be displayed in increasing value. One of the answer options is correct (or, will be“most nearly correct,” as described in the following section). The remaining answer options are incorrect and may consist of one or more “logical distractors,” the term used by NCEES to designate incorrect options that look correct. NCEES intends the questions to be unrelated. Ques-tions are independent or start with new given data. A mistake on one of the questions shouldn’t cause you to get a subsequent question wrong. However, considerable
time may be required to repeat previous calculations with a new set of given data.
WHAT DOES“MOST NEARLY” REALLY MEAN? One of the more disquieting aspects of these questions is that the available answer choices are seldom exact. Answer choices generally have only two or three signifi-cant digits. Exam questions ask,“Which answer choice is most nearly the correct value?” or they instruct you to complete the sentence,“The value is approximately . . .” A lot of self-confidence is required to move on to the next question when you don’t find an exact match for the answer you calculated, or if you have had to split the difference because no available answer choice is close. NCEES describes it like this:
Many of the questions on NCEES exams require calculations to arrive at a numerical answer. Depending on the method of calculation used, it is very possible that examinees working correctly will arrive at a range of answers. The phrase “most nearly” is used to accommodate answers that have been derived correctly but that may be slightly different from the correct answer choice given on the exam. You should use good engi-neering judgment when selecting your choice of answer. For example, if the question asks you to calculate an electrical current or determine the load on a beam, you should literally select the answer option that is most nearly what you cal-culated, regardless of whether it is more or less than your calculated value. However, if the ques-tion asks you to select a fuse or circuit breaker to protect against a calculated current or to size a beam to carry a load, you should select an answer option that will safely carry the current or load. Typically, this requires selecting a value that is closest to but larger than the current or load. The difference is significant. Suppose you were asked to calculate “most nearly” the volumetric pure water flow required to dilute a contaminated stream to an accept-able concentration. Suppose, also, that you calculated 823 gpm. If the answer choices were (A) 600 gpm, (B) 800 gpm, (C) 1000 gpm, and (D) 1200 gpm, you would go with answer choice (B), because it is most nearly what you calculated. If, however, you were asked to select a pump or pipe with the same rated capacities, you would have to go with choice (C). Got it?
HOW MUCH MATHEMATICS IS NEEDED FOR THE EXAM?
There are no pure mathematics questions (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc.) on the exam. However, you will need to apply your knowledge of these subjects to the exam questions.
Table 2 Detailed Analysis of Tested Subjects
MORNING SESSION (40 multiple-choice questions) Construction (20%)
Earthwork construction and layout: excavation and embankment (cut and fill); borrow pit volumes; site layout and control Estimating quantities and costs: quantity take-off methods; cost estimating
Scheduling: construction sequencing; resource scheduling; time-cost trade-off
Material quality control and production: material testing (e.g., concrete, soil, asphalt) Temporary structures: construction loads
Geotechnical (20%)
Subsurface exploration and sampling: soil classification; boring log interpretation (e.g., soil profile) Engineering properties of soils and materials: permeability; pavement design criteria
Soil mechanics analysis: pressure distribution; lateral earth pressure; consolidation; compaction; effective and total stresses Earth structures: slope stability; slabs-on-grade
Shallow foundations: bearing capacity; settlement
Earth retaining structures: gravity walls; cantilever walls; stability analysis; braced and anchored excavations Structural (20%)
Loadings: dead and live loads; construction loads Analysis: determinate analysis
Mechanics of materials: shear and moment diagrams; flexure; shear; tension and compression; deflection; combined stresses Materials: reinforced and plain concrete; structural, light gage, and reinforcing steel
Member design: beams; slabs; footings Transportation (20%)
Geometric design: horizontal curves; vertical curves; sight distance; superelevation; vertical and/or horizontal clearances; acceleration and deceleration
Water Resources and Environmental (20%)
Hydraulics—closed conduit: energy and/or continuity equation (e.g., Bernoulli); pressure conduit (e.g., single pipe, force mains); closed pipe flow equations (e.g., Hazen-Williams, Darcy-Weisbach); friction and/or minor losses; pipe network analysis (e.g., pipeline design, branch networks, loop networks); pump application and analysis
Hydraulics—open channel: open-channel flow (e.g., Manning’s equation); culvert design; spillway capacity; energy dissipation (e.g., hydraulic jump, velocity control); stormwater collection (e.g., stormwater inlets, gutter flow, street flow, storm sewer pipes); flood plains/floodways; flow measurement (open channel)
Hydrology: storm characterization (e.g., rainfall measurement and distribution); storm frequency; hydrographs application; rainfall intensity, duration, and frequency (IDF) curves; time of concentration; runoff analysis (including Rational and SCS methods); erosion; detention/retention ponds
Wastewater treatment: collection systems (e.g., lift stations, sewer networks, infiltration, inflow) Water Treatment: hydraulic loading; distribution systems
AFTERNOON SESSIONS (40 multiple-choice questions) CIVIL/CONSTRUCTION DEPTH EXAM
Construction (90%)
Earthwork construction and layout (10%): excavation and embankment (cut and fill); borrow pit volumes; site layout and control; earthwork mass diagrams
Estimating quantities and costs (17.5%): quantity take-off methods; cost estimating; engineering economics; value engineering and costing Construction operations and methods (15%): lifting and rigging; crane selection, erection, and stability; dewatering and pumping;
equipment production; productivity analysis and improvement; temporary erosion control
Scheduling (17.5%): construction sequencing; CPM network analysis; activity time analysis; resource scheduling; time-cost trade-off Material quality control and production (10%): material testing (e.g., concrete, soil, asphalt); welding and bolting testing; quality
control process (QA/QC); concrete mix design
Temporary structures (12.5%): construction loads; formwork; falsework and scaffolding; shoring and reshoring; concrete maturity and early strength evaluation; bracing; anchorage; cofferdams (systems for temporary excavation support); codes and standards (e.g., American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE 37), American Concrete Institute (ACI 347), American Forest and Paper Association-NDS, Masonry Wall Bracing Standard)
Worker health, safety, and environment (7.5%): OSHA regulations; safety management; safety statistics (e.g., incident rate, EMR) (continued)
Table 2 Detailed Analysis of Tested Subjects (continued)
CIVIL/CONSTRUCTION DEPTH EXAM (continued) Other Topics (10%)
Groundwater and well fields: groundwater control (including drainage, construction dewatering) Subsurface exploration and sampling: drilling and sampling procedures
Earth retaining structures: mechanically stabilized earth wall; soil and rock anchors Deep foundations: pile load test; pile installation
Loadings: wind loads; snow loads; load paths Mechanics of materials: progressive collapse
Materials: concrete (prestressed, post-tensioned); timber Traffic safety: work zone safety
CIVIL/GEOTECHNICAL DEPTH EXAM Geotechnical (90%)
Subsurface exploration and sampling (7.5%): drilling and sampling procedures; in-situ testing; soil classification; boring log interpretation; general rock characterization (e.g., RQD, description, joints and fractures)
Engineering properties of soils and materials (10%): index properties; phase relationships; shear strength properties; permeability; geosynthetics; pavement design criteria; frost susceptibility
Soil mechanics analysis (12.5%): effective and total stresses; pressure distribution; lateral earth pressure; consolidation; compaction; expansive soils
Earth structures (10%): slope stability; slabs-on-grade; earth dams; techniques and suitability of ground modification Shallow foundations (15%): bearing capacity; settlement; mat and raft foundations
Deep foundations (10%): axial capacity (single pile/drilled shaft); lateral capacity and deflections (single pile/drilled shaft); settlement; behavior of pile and/or drilled shaft groups; pile dynamics (e.g., wave equation, PDA test); pile load tests; pile installation Earth retaining structures (17.5%): gravity walls; cofferdams; cantilever walls; stability analysis; mechanically stabilized earth
walls; braced and anchored excavations; soil and rock anchors; temporary structures (including shoring and reshoring) Earthquake engineering (5%): liquefaction; pseudo-static analysis and earthquake loadings; seismic site characterization Other Topics (10%)
Groundwater and well fields: well logging and subsurface properties; aquifers (e.g., characterization); seepage (e.g., exit gradient, drain fields, seepage forces, flow nets); groundwater flow (including Darcy’s law and seepage analysis); well analysis (steady flow only); seepage (e.g., exit gradient, drain fields, seepage forces, flow nets); groundwater control (including drainage, construction dewatering, and pumping)
Construction operations and methods: quality control process (QA/QC) (e.g., when digging, confirming quality; writing QA processes); concrete maturity and early strength evaluation; worker health, safety, and environment (including OSHA regulations)
CIVIL/STRUCTURAL DEPTH EXAM Structural (87.5%)
Loadings (12.5%): dead and live loads; moving loads; wind loads; earthquake loads (including liquefaction, site characterization, and pseudo-static analysis); snow loads; construction loads; impact loads; load paths; load combinations
Analysis (12.5%): determinate; indeterminate
Mechanics of materials (12.5%): shear and moment diagrams; flexure; shear; torsion; tension and compression; combined stresses; deflection; progressive collapse; buckling; fatigue; thermal deformation
Materials (12.5%): reinforced and plain concrete; pre-stressed and post-tension concrete; structural steel (structural, light gage, reinforcing); timber; masonry (brick veneer, CMU); composite construction
Member design (25%): beams; slabs; columns; footings; trusses; braces and frames; connections (bolted, welded, embedded, anchored); shear and bearing walls; diaphragms (horizontal, vertical, flexible, rigid)
Design criteria (12.5%): IBC, ACI, PCI, AISC, NDS, AASHTO, ASCE7, AWS Other Topics (12.5%)
Engineering properties of soils and materials: index properties (e.g., plasticity index; interpretation and how to use them) Soil mechanics analysis: expansive soils
Shallow foundations: mat and raft foundations
Deep foundations: axial capacity (single pile/drilled shaft); lateral capacity and deflections (single pile/drilled shaft); settlement; behavior of pile and/or drilled shaft group
Engineering economics: value engineering and costing
Table 2 Detailed Analysis of Tested Subjects (continued)
CIVIL/STRUCTURAL DEPTH EXAM (continued)
Material quality control and production: welding and bolting testing
Temporary structures: formwork; falsework and scaffolding; shoring and reshoring; concrete maturity and early strength evaluation; bracing; anchorage
Worker health, safety, and environment: OSHA regulations; safety management CIVIL/TRANSPORTATION DEPTH EXAM
Transportation (75%)
Traffic analysis (22.5%): traffic signals; speed studies; traffic capacity studies; intersection analysis; traffic volume studies; sight distance evaluation; traffic control devices; pedestrian facilities; driver behavior/performance
Transportation planning (7.5%): traffic impact studies; capacity analysis (future conditions); optimization/cost analysis (e.g., transportation route A or transportation route B)
Geometric design (30%): horizontal curves; vertical curves; sight distance; superelevation; vertical/horizontal clearances; acceleration and deceleration; intersections and/or interchanges
Traffic safety (15%): accident analysis; roadside clearance analysis; work zone safety; conflict analysis Other Topics (25%)
Hydraulics: open channel—subcritical and supercritical flow; culvert design Hydrology: hydrograph development and synthetic hydrographs
Engineering properties of soils and materials: index properties; identification of types of soils; suitable or unsuitable soil; boring logs Soil mechanics analysis: soil behavior; soil classification; soil compaction
Engineering economics: value engineering and costing
Construction operations and methods: erosion control measures; excavation/embankment Pavement structures: flexible and rigid pavement design
CIVIL/WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEPTH EXAM Resources and Environmental (97.5%)
Hydraulics—closed conduit (15%): energy and/or continuity equation (e.g., Bernoulli); pressure conduit (e.g., single pipe, force mains); closed pipeflow equations (including Hazen-Williams, Darcy-Weisbach equations); friction, and/or minor losses; pipe network analysis (e.g., pipeline design, branch networks, loop networks); pump application and analysis; cavitation; transient analysis (e.g., water hammer); flow measurement—closed conduits; momentum equation (e.g., thrust blocks, pipeline restraints) Hydraulics—open channel (15%): open-channel flow (e.g., Manning’s equation); culvert design; spillway capacity; energy dissipation (e.g., hydraulic jump, velocity control); stormwater collection (including stormwater inlets, gutter flow, street flow, storm sewer pipes); flood plain/floodway; subcritical and supercritical flow, flow measurement—open channel; gradually varied flow Hydrology (15%): storm characterization (including rainfall measurement and distribution); storm frequency; hydrographs
application; hydrograph development and synthetic hydrographs; rainfall intensity, duration, and frequency (IDF) curves; time of concentration; runoff analysis (including rational and SCS methods); gauging stations (including runoff frequency analysis, flow calculations); depletions (e.g., transpiration, evaporation, infiltration); sedimentation; erosion; detention/retention ponds Groundwater and well fields (7.5%): aquifers (e.g., characterization); groundwater flow (including Darcy’s law, seepage analysis);
well analysis (steady flow only); groundwater control (including drainage, construction dewatering); water quality analysis; groundwater contamination
Wastewater treatment (15%): wastewater flow rates (e.g., municipal, industrial, commercial); unit operations and processes; primary treatment (e.g., bar screens, clarification); secondary clarification; chemical treatment; collection systems (e.g., lift stations, sewer network, infiltration, inflow); National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting; effluent limits; biological treatment; physical treatment; solids handling (e.g., thickening, drying processes); digesters; disinfection; nitrification and/or denitrification; operations (e.g., odor control, corrosion control, compliance); advanced treatment (e.g., nutrient removal, filtration, wetlands); beneficial reuse (e.g., liquids, biosolids, gas)
Water quality (15%): stream degradation (e.g., thermal, base flow, TDS, TSS, BOD, COD); oxygen dynamics (e.g., oxygenation, deoxygenation, oxygen sag curve); risk assessment and management; toxicity; biological contaminants (e.g., algae, mussels); chemical contaminants (e.g., organics, heavy metals); bioaccumulation; eutrophication; indicator organisms and testing; sampling and monitoring (e.g., QA/QC, laboratory procedures)
Water treatment (15%): demands; hydraulic loading; storage (including raw and treated water); sedimentation; taste and odor control; rapid mixing; coagulation and flocculation; filtration; disinfection; softening; advanced treatment (e.g., membranes, activated carbon, desalination); distribution systems
Engineering Economics (2.5%) Life-cycle modeling
