CIVIL PE EXAM 1

[MFDJ9]

I will be taking the PE Exam in April and I am not familiar with Timber Design as it was never taught in school. Any helpful hints on how to approach timber design problems in the PE exam? Also, I will be taking the CA Seismic and Surveying exam for the civil PE exam. I heard that the seismic exam is very hard and I am not very familiar with it. Can anybody help me?

 

[JAE]

I would get the NDS (National Design Specification) spec and study it along with any good book on basic timber design. The timber problems I had in the PE and SE exams were not extremely complex.

A good book I have is "Design of Wood Structures", by Donald E. Breyer (McGraw-Hill). Look here:

http://www.knovel.com/knovel2/publishers.jsp?PublisherID=10#589

For the California PE - there are some good study books published by Professional Publications, Inc.

"Seismic Principles Practice Exams for the California Special Civil Engineer Examination", by Majid Baradar, PE

"Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers", by Paul A. Cuomo, PLS

"Civil Surveying Practice Exam for the California Special Civil Engineer Examination", by James R. Monroe, Jr. PE.

Look here for these:

http://www.ppi2pass.com

 

[MFDJ9]

Thank you JAE. I am planning on taking the SE exam too but I'm not sure how long I have to wait before I can take it.In order for me to take the SE, I have to be working under the supervision of an SE,correct?

 

[JAE]

Depends on your state. I took the SE-1 exam and the SE-2 exam and then got licensed as a structural engineer (SE) in Illinois and have never worked under an SE. In California, you can take all those exams and get licensed as a PE (Civil) but to get the SE, I do believe that you have to have a number of references from SE's in CA before they will let you into their club.

I know there's some California engineers on this site out there that can speak further on this for Calfornia. Anyone?

 

[m8589]

Does Illinois accept SE-2 from other states?

 

[JAE]

If it is the NCEES test, yes. I took it in Nebraska - no problem.

 

[m8589]

I am taking SE-2 in coming April, are there any advises in addition to be ready?

 

[JAE]

When I took it, half was focused on gravity designs and the other half was lateral (seismic and wind). The SE-1 seemed to test for breadth of knowledge - how many different things do you know and understand in at least a basic manner.

The SE-2 seemed to test for your depth of knowledge - how deep do you understand a particular topic.

You can apparently pass either the morning or afternoon sessions and if either are failed, then you only re-take the half test that was failed.

 

[whyun]

MFDJ9:

For wood design preparation for the PE in California, the text book of choice is the "Design of Wood Structures ASD" by Breyer. 4th Edition, I think is the latest.

Seismic is the hurdle many non-building engineers face. If you know of a peer who is practicing structural engineering also taking the exam, you may schedule a study session with him so he can tell you everything he knows. A friend of mine who just couldnt pass the seismic portion did just that with me, had a weekend and a day worth of intense study session, he passed. Your friend will probably benefit also when he explains the concepts to you and reinforce his own knoeledge base.

Once you obtain a PE Civil in California, you need a minimum of 36 months of experience under an SE (or have 3 SE's to validate your work in structural field). SE exam is two 8 hour sessions. You either pass or fail. You cant pass one portion and not take it again like the PE Exam.

For more info, try

http://www.dca.ca.gov/pels/e_exam.htm

Just out of curiosity, are you working in California?

 

[haynewp]

Breyer's book is good and

http://ppi2pass.com/cgi-bin/ppi_catalog.cgi?page=struc.html&cart_id=1047254549.12786

is another one. Get the required NDS standards also

http://www.awc.org/Standards/nds.html.

The best advice I can give you is to make a step by step guide to solve each kind of problem. This was particularly helpful for me with wood. Wood is not that hard, it's just easy to forget to include all the factors. And the SE-1 exam will definitely try to trip you up on that.

 

[MFDJ9]

Thank you everybody for your advice. I am very nervous about taking the test. Whyun, that sounds like a great idea, unfortunately,I do not have anybody (SE) that can go through the seismic portion with me. I bought some books on seismic,hopefully,the books are good enough. And yes I am working in CA. I have the NDS book but I don't have the Design of Wood Structures text book. I guess its time to go buy more books..

 

[whyun]

MFDJ9:

I never had the luxury of attending the Long Beach exam prep sessions in the past. I have heard mixed reactions to the review courses. It is costly. I think you get 10 or so volumes of thick design aids when you pay for the course. Author is Chelapati. Look into this or try to find someone who owns these books.

Another good overview (despite many errors) is from Alan Williams. He has a series of books published for Structural Engineering, Seismic Design, etc.

If wood is what you're after, buy Breyer's. Then add supplemental boks afterwards. Also, NDS97 is a must.

Good luck!