Seismic and Surveying Exam!

Hello Everyone:

I plan to apply for California PE. I am already a PE of Washington, DC. I know that I have to take Seismic and Surveying exam in CA.

My questions are:

1- Is it two different exams or just one including questions about Seismic and Surveying?

2- Another 8 hours long exam(s)?!

3- If anyone has had a PE license in different state and already gone this path I am trying to go, please share their experience ...

Thank you,

You will be given credit for the 8hr national, but you will be required to take the seismic and surveying. They are two separate exams that are offered on the same day as the FE exam (i.e. Saturday). The exams are 2.5hrs each and consist of 40-50 questions. Seismic is the morning exam which starts at 8:30am and the surveying is in afternoon which starts around 1pm. Since they are independent, you can pass one (say the surveying) and fail the other (say the seismic); the next time you take the test you will only be required to take the one you failed (the seismic in the morning, in this example) .

And as an aside, don't expect your results untill about 15-16 weeks after the exam.

I hope that helps.

Also Seismic Design Review by Steven Hiner (http://www.seismicreview.com/) is a good review for the seismic.

Desert Water said:

You will be given credit for the 8hr national, but you will be required to take the seismic and surveying. They are two separate exams that are offered on the same day as the FE exam (i.e. Saturday). The exams are 2.5hrs each and consist of 40-50 questions. Seismic is the morning exam which starts at 8:30am and the surveying is in afternoon which starts around 1pm. Since they are independent, you can pass one (say the surveying) and fail the other (say the seismic); the next time you take the test you will only be required to take the one you failed (the seismic in the morning, in this example) .
And as an aside, don't expect your results untill about 15-16 weeks after the exam.

I hope that helps.

Also Seismic Design Review by Steven Hiner (http://www.seismicreview.com/) is a good review for the seismic.

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You gave a very good direction, Desert Water. What I want to add is that the code for seismic exam is still UBC97/CBC2001 for the October exam but may be changed to new IBC next year.

Thanks Desert Water and LXZ for your inputs and info ...

Desert Water: How good is the review book you recommended? and what do you think of these books?

I was thinking of getting Seismic Design of Building Structures by Lindeburg and Baradar for Seismic and Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers for Surveying.

LXZ: I am shooting for April exam. So, most probably the newer version of the codes are applied to April ...

If any one has any suggestions, please share. :thankyou:

I should give the caveat, that i haven't passed the seismic, before answering your question. But, I have taken it twice and am currently waiting for the second results. though, the first time, I didnt study for the siesmic, I concentrated on the 8hr national and surveying. the seismic was like a foreign language, i had no clue. So take my advice with a grain of salt, and what works/worked for me, might not work for you.

In my opinion, you should forget about any of the lindeburg stuff for seismic. My coworker bought all of it, I looked at it and didn't care for it. You only need 2 books: Hiners book (its cheap, only $50) and the CBC (mainly copy of tables, older edition should work). maybe buy the practice problem book, if you want more examples; but buy hiners book first.

I've passed the surveying, but I think i got lucky. Here is what worked for me:

I read the Coumo book, the Caltrans surveying manual (posted on here somewhere), and chelapati's surveying book. I just worked example problems, made notes of equations (reformulated them to make them easier), and detailed some example problems that i couldn't solve.

Also, california has different calculator regulations than the national, you will be able to use your ti-86 or hp-48. It just can't have QWERTY.

I hope that helps, PM me if you need more info.

bezzy said:

Thanks Desert Water and LXZ for your inputs and info ...
Desert Water: How good is the review book you recommended? and what do you think of these books?

I was thinking of getting Seismic Design of Building Structures by Lindeburg and Baradar for Seismic and Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers for Surveying.

LXZ: I am shooting for April exam. So, most probably the newer version of the codes are applied to April ...

If any one has any suggestions, please share. :thankyou:

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I used the same book as what Desert Water used for survey exam. As for Seismic Design, it is my first try and I am still waiting for the results. I used the Lindeburg and Baradar's book and it is helpful. I'd say the seismic exam is hard especially for those who are not specilized in structural design. I put a lot of effort on this exam. My suggestion would be to work out the practical problems. I think the Hiner book is a must. If you have a chance, go to the training course by Hiner. If not, just buy the book and work out the problems.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot Desert Water and LXZ for the valuable info and sharing your experience.

I hope you guys get to see the passing result in the mail soon.

I've already placed an order to get the Hiner book and downloaded Caltran from the website ...

:thankyou:

I appreciate all the advice in this thread and the other references (surveying) thread as well. Passing the CA seismic and survey tests is mandatory to become a civil PE in both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. I did not have to take it as an Environmental PE, but I am considering taking the exams maybe sometime next year just to get them under my belt, in case I try to get licensed in CA or go for a civil license here, and also just so show that I "can" for the folks around here who might hold it against me.

I have a question for you guys: What would be a good, overall introductory book on surveying? My degree was in ME so I have never had any classwork. I would like to get a good overview of surveying over the next several months (at my leisure) before attempting studying for the exams - I actually want to learn how to survey, not just take a test.

In the other thread, someone mentioned the Kavanagh book as being a good overall surveying book, but requiring some knowledge. I found a Kavanagh book called Surveying with Construction Applications, on Amazon and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on that, or any other recommendations.

Or is the free Caltrans manual good enough to start with?

Thanks

Dleg said:

I appreciate all the advice in this thread and the other references (surveying) thread as well. Passing the CA seismic and survey tests is mandatory to become a civil PE in both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. I did not have to take it as an Environmental PE, but I am considering taking the exams maybe sometime next year just to get them under my belt, in case I try to get licensed in CA or go for a civil license here, and also just so show that I "can" for the folks around here who might hold it against me.
I have a question for you guys: What would be a good, overall introductory book on surveying? My degree was in ME so I have never had any classwork. I would like to get a good overview of surveying over the next several months (at my leisure) before attempting studying for the exams - I actually want to learn how to survey, not just take a test.

In the other thread, someone mentioned the Kavanagh book as being a good overall surveying book, but requiring some knowledge. I found a Kavanagh book called Surveying with Construction Applications, on Amazon and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on that, or any other recommendations.

Or is the free Caltrans manual good enough to start with?

Thanks

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The Coumo book is all you need for survey exam. The CalTrans survey manual may also help.

Good luck.

While the Coumo book is excellent in some sections, I heard that it is not enough as a stand alone text. The timing is what most people had complained about and have therefore been looking for calculator programs. I just signed up for survey review class by soilstructure.com I think with the extra notes and their calculator programs I would have a chance. Here is the link:

http://www.soilstructure.com/pereviewclass.html

In addition to the coumo book and the caltrans book, I did use another study guide for preparing for surveying. I didnt mention it because it was give to me by a coworker and I believe the company that put the review together went under; so you can't buy it anymore. I've looked for them on the internet to see if they had any classes local to me. It might or might not be helpful to you, but more info is better than less. it was spiral bound, so made a pdf of his copy.

Here is the question, I have no problem emailing it to people (only the 3-4 ppl who have had questions on this board, i dont want to make a full-time profession of sending it out) at no charge, but i dont want violate any copyright rules. I dont believe the company exists anymore, at least not with the same name. I've looked for it on the internet, and have had no luck finding it. It has a copyright logo from "Professional Engineering Institute". I would like to get a consensus on whether it is right or not to send it out. What is the general rule of posting reviews/study guides like that?

Desert Water said:

In addition to the coumo book and the caltrans book, I did use another study guide for preparing for surveying. I didnt mention it because it was give to me by a coworker and I believe the company that put the review together went under; so you can't buy it anymore. I've looked for them on the internet to see if they had any classes local to me. It might or might not be helpful to you, but more info is better than less. it was spiral bound, so made a pdf of his copy. Here is the question, I have no problem emailing it to people (only the 3-4 ppl who have had questions on this board, i dont want to make a full-time profession of sending it out) at no charge, but i dont want violate any copyright rules. I dont believe the company exists anymore, at least not with the same name. I've looked for it on the internet, and have had no luck finding it. It has a copyright logo from "Professional Engineering Institute". I would like to get a consensus on whether it is right or not to send it out. What is the general rule of posting reviews/study guides like that?

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That'd be great :thumbs:

I don't think we are violating any copy rights if using just as a study material ...

The best way to do it is putting it up on websites like megaupload rather than emailing to people.

I think email is better.

Since I am not planning on taking the exam this year, I decided to go the route of learning surveying first by purchasing a basic text book. Actually, two:

- Elementary Surveying: An Introduction to Geomatics (11th Edition) by Paul R. Wolf and Chuck Ghilani

- Construction Surveying and Layout: A Step-By-Step Field Engineering Methods Manual (3rd Edition) by Wesley G. Crawford

I picked these out based on reviews at Amazon, plus someone mentioned the Crawford book in another thread as being good for step-by-step instruction. Maybe they're crappy, I don't know, but they were also on the CA list of references for the exam (along with just about every other surveying book available), so I figure they aren't a complete waste of money.

I figure I'll just work through the Elementary Surveying book and then set up some exercises for myself using a friend's equipment and guidance. Or maybe even find an on-line course... any suggestions? Then, maybe in December, I'll apply to take the exam in April and buy a practice exam book or something. I'm afraid of the Cuomo book just because it looks like it is geared only to the exam. I actually want to learn this stuff.

I took the CA exam in April and still waiting for freaking results. I did good on NCEES 8 hour part, did good on survey and did bad on Seismic.

Any "the other board" books are next to worthless for Seismic.

"the other board" Survey was OK- not bad but not great either. My biggest helpful recommendation is to bring a compass, scale, and protractor. You can draw out a solution easier and quicker than doing the math on a lot of questions. I honestly do not remember seeing anybody else at the exam with these tools. All the questions with pictures / diagrams say "Not To Scale" but they are actually drawn very accurately to scale. I did get crunched on time but feel confident about passing.

I work with surveyors regularly so it was not a big deal for me but I must say that I think that exam is very in depth for requiring every licensed engineer to know that much about survey especially if you don't use it in your work life. Recall your trig. and get some resources beyond "the other board". I don't know if I would recommend the Cuomo stuff or not. I think I passed because of the other stuff I knew from work, not from his texts.

Hope this helps.

civilsid said:

I took the CA exam in April and still waiting for freaking results. I did good on NCEES 8 hour part, did good on survey and did bad on Seismic.
Any "the other board" books are next to worthless for Seismic.

"the other board" Survey was OK- not bad but not great either. My biggest helpful recommendation is to bring a compass, scale, and protractor. You can draw out a solution easier and quicker than doing the math on a lot of questions. I honestly do not remember seeing anybody else at the exam with these tools. All the questions with pictures / diagrams say "Not To Scale" but they are actually drawn very accurately to scale. I did get crunched on time but feel confident about passing.

I work with surveyors regularly so it was not a big deal for me but I must say that I think that exam is very in depth for requiring every licensed engineer to know that much about survey especially if you don't use it in your work life. Recall your trig. and get some resources beyond "the other board". I don't know if I would recommend the Cuomo stuff or not. I think I passed because of the other stuff I knew from work, not from his texts.

Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

what is "the other board?"

www.ppi2pass.com

marcv182 said:

what is "the other board?"

Click to expand...

teda said:

www.ppi2pass.com

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Desert Water said:

I should give the caveat, that i haven't passed the seismic, before answering your question. But, I have taken it twice and am currently waiting for the second results. though, the first time, I didnt study for the siesmic, I concentrated on the 8hr national and surveying. the seismic was like a foreign language, i had no clue. So take my advice with a grain of salt, and what works/worked for me, might not work for you.
In my opinion, you should forget about any of the lindeburg stuff for seismic. My coworker bought all of it, I looked at it and didn't care for it. You only need 2 books: Hiners book (its cheap, only $50) and the CBC (mainly copy of tables, older edition should work). maybe buy the practice problem book, if you want more examples; but buy hiners book first.

I've passed the surveying, but I think i got lucky. Here is what worked for me:

I read the Coumo book, the Caltrans surveying manual (posted on here somewhere), and chelapati's surveying book. I just worked example problems, made notes of equations (reformulated them to make them easier), and detailed some example problems that i couldn't solve.

Also, california has different calculator regulations than the national, you will be able to use your ti-86 or hp-48. It just can't have QWERTY.

I hope that helps, PM me if you need more info.

Click to expand...

About the calculators...is it posted on the California PE website that the more advanced calculators are permitted? Or do you just know this from personal experience? Thanks.

marcv182 said:

About the calculators...is it posted on the California PE website that the more advanced calculators are permitted? Or do you just know this from personal experience? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Nevermind, I found it.