Structural Depth Preparation

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noghre111

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I am taking the Civil PE exam, "structural depth" this october. I have 32 days left to the exam.

I started studying 3 months ago. Studied the structural chapters of CERM for one month. Then I studied the AM Topics and now I feel prepared for AM portion. I need to go back to structural and refresh my memory on the topics I studied before, and solve problems. What is the best way to study for structural depth?

thank you. :thankyou:

 
In my opinion, these two were sufficient. Also, I recommend taking all of the codes/references that are on the NCEES list for Structural Depth.

NCEES Civil:Structural Sample Questions & Solutions book

Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam Structural Problems book

 
In my opinion, these two were sufficient. Also, I recommend taking all of the codes/references that are on the NCEES list for Structural Depth.
NCEES Civil:Structural Sample Questions & Solutions book

Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam Structural Problems book
Six minute problem is way too hard for PE exam. I went through it and some problems will take more than 6 minutes if you just copy the content of solved problem from one paper to another.

They are very complex and require good knowledges and design experience

 
I agree, 6 min solutions problems seem too difficult. I am planning on going over them so hopefully I'll be over-prepared for the test. Unfortunately I'm feeling overwhelmed with structural depth, there is simply too much material to cover.

Thanks.

 
I agree, 6 min solutions problems seem too difficult. I am planning on going over them so hopefully I'll be over-prepared for the test. Unfortunately I'm feeling overwhelmed with structural depth, there is simply too much material to cover.
Thanks.
I just finished the NCEES Structural Depth problems and got a 29/40. I was pretty happy considering I was forced to guess on a couple due to not having the codes with me (I left them at work). Some of the stuff was pretty arcane, but using the CERM, SDRM and a few other references I did not feel it was over whelming. There are always going to be some problems that come out of nowhere. The biggest thing I focus on is whether or not I know immediately what they are looking for and which equations to use. If I know that, it makes looking the information up that much easier and reassuring. I think I will be trying the 6-minute solutions to try and get a deeper knowledge of some stuff. I am also going to read some of my old text books regarding some reinforced concrete material (i.e. spandrels), I am pretty weak in those areas. Good Luck.

-Andrew Miller

 
I agree, 6 min solutions problems seem too difficult. I am planning on going over them so hopefully I'll be over-prepared for the test. Unfortunately I'm feeling overwhelmed with structural depth, there is simply too much material to cover.
Thanks.
I just finished the NCEES Structural Depth problems and got a 29/40. I was pretty happy considering I was forced to guess on a couple due to not having the codes with me (I left them at work). Some of the stuff was pretty arcane, but using the CERM, SDRM and a few other references I did not feel it was over whelming. There are always going to be some problems that come out of nowhere. The biggest thing I focus on is whether or not I know immediately what they are looking for and which equations to use. If I know that, it makes looking the information up that much easier and reassuring. I think I will be trying the 6-minute solutions to try and get a deeper knowledge of some stuff. I am also going to read some of my old text books regarding some reinforced concrete material (i.e. spandrels), I am pretty weak in those areas. Good Luck.

-Andrew Miller
What stuff was arcane from NCEES Structural problems?

The 6 minute questions are way harder than NCEES questions and I have been spending more than an hour to solve just one problem. Sometimes, it takes over 2 hours for several problems. I have solved 50 problems so far. I think there are just a few questions in the 6 minute book you can solve within 6 minutes. When you try 6 minute solutions, don't spend too much time(like I did, spent over 30 minutes) trying to figure out how to approach and solve problems on your own. If you encounter certain problems which you cannot figure out how to solve, just read the hint and the solution. The solution gives you the the relevant reference code and then you should look up and understand the code, then try to solve on your own with the knowledge of the code. This way helps me understand the required codes a lot.

 
^ i agree, the 6 mins and struct depth ref manual is not even updated to the codes, i doubt it is relevant. you must be familiar with the code, in concrete, steel and timber etc.

 
In my opinion, these two were sufficient. Also, I recommend taking all of the codes/references that are on the NCEES list for Structural Depth.
NCEES Civil:Structural Sample Questions & Solutions book

Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam Structural Problems book
Six minute problem is way too hard for PE exam. I went through it and some problems will take more than 6 minutes if you just copy the content of solved problem from one paper to another.

They are very complex and require good knowledges and design experience
I agree, a lot of them I marked to skip, because they were unlikely. There are still a lot of problems in there that can be solved in 6-minutes. On some of the long ones, that I did not skip, I would just solve for the first couple of unknowns. Completing about 6 minutes of the problem, not going to the extent that the 6-minute wants, but maybe going to the extent that the exam could ask for. Out of the 100 in the book, there are still a lot of problems that dont have solutions a page or two long.

I also had 2 NCEES books. They came out with a new one, from the time I took the Fall exam, to the Spring exam. Some of the problems were duplicates, but there were some new ones too.

I took Oct. 2010 and passed my second attempt, Apr 2011.

Good luck to everyone.

 
Hi everyone.

I have now obtained all the codes listed by NCEES. The only one I am still missing is the AASHTO. How important is it that I get the AASHTO for structural PM? (I happen to have the older version of AASHTO).

Thanks,

 
Hi everyone.
I have now obtained all the codes listed by NCEES. The only one I am still missing is the AASHTO. How important is it that I get the AASHTO for structural PM? (I happen to have the older version of AASHTO).

Thanks,
I didn't crack the AASHTO, There are so many other problems that you could focus on and get correct. that didn't work for me on the SE1 exam and probably won't work on the 16hr SE exam, but I think for the Civil PE exam you could skip studying AASHTO, i've heard others say they took the AASHTO and looped up problems, i could never do it for SE1, I don't even remember AASHTO problems on Civil PE.

 
AASHTO is used in Civil PE Struct PM, 2 to 3 Bridge questions as what Ive read from PPI and EB threads.

 
AASHTO is used in Civil PE Struct PM, 2 to 3 Bridge questions as what Ive read from PPI and EB threads.

I am SO UNFAMILIAR with AASHTO. I don't think I've ever even opened it once. Would you be able to tel me what section bridge questions may be from, just so I make sure I have those chapters with me on the test?

Thank you!

 
lets be careful here, the Big brother (NCEES)is watching, just bring with you your thick AASHTO book.

 
For the afternoon, the difference between passing or not could easily be with how familiar you are with the codes.

There were about 10 basic/simple questions that hinge completely on knowing where to find something in the codes. Before passing the test I would call them trick questions, after passing the test, I would just consider them free points for knowing the codes well. You can also bet that these questions are not going to be something you can simply look up in the index.

These type of questions are not meant to be difficult as much as they are designed to take a lot of time if you don’t know exactly where to look. It’s those questions that you ‘just know you can find the answer if . . . ‘ and before you know it you have spent 10 minutes trying to find it.

I went through every code from cover to cover about a month before the exam, not necessarily reading every word, but at least scanning every page. As I did that, I highlighted key sections and tabbed them in the book. A few things happened out of that:

1. I found information in places I would have never imagined looking before

2. I found a lot of other useful information that helped to understand key concepts. Some code books like PCI and NDS have several useful example problems as well.

Tabbing pages saves a lot of time during the test and that time is better spent double checking calcs than thumbing through page after page of any book.

I quit working practice problems a few days before the test and just familiarized myself again with the codes. I feel like I got 8 / 10 of those code questions right and that’s a confidence booster when you walk out of the doors at the end of a long day.

Good luck.

 
Thanks kengineer. I'm going to spend the last two three days looking through the codes and possibly (if time allows) making tables out of each section in the codes.

 
my opinion, forget AASHTO, focus on problems that are a touch harder that you could actually get. if you haven't worked through all the NCEES problems yet, do that before you stop doing practice problems and start tabing. do a quick review of all NCEES practice problems this week.

kill the morning so you can feel confident about the afternoon.

 
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