Bridge Questions in SE Exam

I was just curious to know approximately how many bridge questions are we going to see in the morning portions (vertical / lateral) of the SE Exam? I think answering this question will tell how many guesses we have to do - applicable for Building guys who have no clue about bridges (including myself).

We are getting close to the BIG date.....a little over 2 months. How do you feel about?

I would say around 7 to 10 out of the 40 which is probably a little more than what you would expect.

However, based on my experience, half of those will probably be "fairly" straightforward to you once you have gone through the Bridge Chapter in SERM and have a good grasp of where things are in AASHTO.

Wow, this is way more than I expected. That means bridge counts up to 25% of the morning session or up to 12.5% of the overall exam for each day. I need lots of lucky guesses or I have to touch that AASHTO. I am definitely not excited to study bridge!

Throwing in my 2 cents here, and as SEHQ said, yes, you will see 7-10 on the morning portion both days. The practice exam/book put out by NCEES has 8 questions in the morning on both vertical and lateral.

Now when it comes to the AASHTO, you don't need to know it backwards and forwards. You DO need to know how to develop loads on the bridge (both vert and lateral) and be familiar with where the chapters are and how they are laid out. You can easily get 75% of the bridge questions right with just what I've said above. When I took the exam last April (2014), I could develop the period and loads for seismic quickly which helped me on the lateral portion and I knew what load factors and combinations to use by looking at that table in chapter 3. (I forgot which table it was, but I know it's in 3. This is a good example of how well you should know the AASHTO.)

Also, as with everything else on this exam, if you use good engineering judgement and knowledge you can usually tell if you're at least in the right ballpark for your answers.

What they said.

7-10 sounds right to me. I remember it seeming like a big part of the multiple choice.

I would also add that I was able to answer a few of the more specific AASHTO questions by using the index to get me to the right section in the code. If I couldn't find the exact term I was looking for, I would look for a related term and, in two cases,that got me to the right part of the code as well. Without the index, needle in a haystack. I would recommend printing off a separate copy of the index and having it in a more manageable binder, that worked well for me.

I didnt expect to see any bridge problems since I was taking buildings only, but yes there quite a few of them and I was unprepared for that..... still, I passed. I should add that I work in both bridges and buildings so I am very familiar with AASHTO, but I literally didnt open the book and I got through it. They are not complex problems.

You're not alone Zumo, I didn't realize that bridge was part of the morning for buildings until about a month before the exam. Didn't bother me too much as I do some stuff with AASHTO as well and also didn't have any trouble with that part of the exam (but failed anyway due to the afternoon).

It STILL baffles me why they have not introduced two exam choices for the morning session.... My profession is building structures, I can only think how the bridge engineers view the LARGE percentage of building questions in the morning session....

The only time I open the AASHTO is to study for the exam. I think the IBC code would be the same for bridge engineers.

Another way to look at it -- are they truly testing the capabilities of the bridge engineers' skill sets for designing with AASHTO?

psustruct - could not agree with you more!

As a bridge engineer, who has not designed any building type structures since college, the morning part is the most difficult part due to all the different references required.

With that said, I know the requirements of the test, so I just have to study harder to pass regardless of my background.

If you spend some time looking at the AASHTO code, you will notice it is laid out almost identical to every other code. There is a section for bending, a section for shear, a section for fatigue, etc., etc. It's not that bad if you know your book. Don't get stressed because it says AASHTO in the problem. I solved several analysis problems with my steel manual or just basic statics in my head and I passed.

I can agree with the above viewpoints. I just believe that if the applicant is proficient in one area, it would demonstrate that they have the aptitude to learn the other area, if needed. After all, it is their professional reputation on the line.

I just need to passed the darn thing before the following happens:

1) they update the code references again
2) they equalize the amount of bridge questions on the morning exam. (maybe I should not have said that out loud....)


If I cannot find them, I will be creating my own flowcharts to help with the gravity test in the fall.

Here are some: http://structuralengineerhq.com/

I can agree with the above viewpoints. I just believe that if the applicant is proficient in one area, it would demonstrate that they have the aptitude to learn the other area, if needed. After all, it is their professional reputation on the line.

I just need to passed the darn thing before the following happens:

1) they update the code references again
2) they equalize the amount of bridge questions on the morning exam. (maybe I should not have said that out loud....)


I will be creating my own flowcharts to help with the gravity test in the fall. I have the ones from Andy's site (http://structuralengineerhq.com/), and will be expanding on them as needed.