SEI and Civil/Str Depth

For those who have taken the Structural and Civil/Str exams, is the CERM enough to get by the morning civil stuff for a "structural guy" or are other references recommended. I took all of the civil courses in school but have not seen it since.

I passed the Civil exam (Str depth) in October '07, so my exam did not have the Construction section. I felt that the morning section was relatively easy, and I only used the CERM and an Environmental dictionary that I downloaded and printed for free (sorry, I can't remember where I got it from). The dictionary probably was not needed, but saved me some time.

That said, I studied a LOT. 25hrs/week for 4 months... probably 75% of that was for morning topics that I had to relearn because I had forgotten it all.

So, yes, the CERM is enough...

I agree with TX.

The CERM is definitely a must. I would also have a good geotech book. This helped me on the am portion where the CERM fell short (look-up type problems). Das or Bowles should cover it. The CERM will be more than enough for the transpo section. The practice problems published by NCEES also helped.

CERM and Geotech I feel is a minimum. I still had my old Environmental and Hydraulics books from school, so I brought them in with me too. They came in handy, but really aren't a necessity.

ARLORD -It seems that you are heading towards California.

My question to all you guys is : which states require Civil as a must?

Any help will be appreciated.

Mcgill said:

ARLORD -It seems that you are heading towards California.My question to all you guys is : which states require Civil as a must?

Any help will be appreciated.

Click to expand...

I don't know where I am heading. I was just thinking about the states that only require Civil for a PE, not STR I. One state may be Illinois? I don't know if you can get a PE by passing the STR I. I think there are some states that require PE status prior to SE status.

I am thinking of taking the Civil exam now only because I have time to do so(no wifey/kids) and I may want to get licensed in CA in the future. But I have no immediate plans to pursue CA SE status. I am not making that trip across the country just to take their CA special exams.

I am hoping that the proposed new format of the national Structural exam will be for all states and I can take that for the western states. That would still leave me short of the CA seismic and surveying exams. But you never know maybe I'll move out there one day. BTW, I wouldn't mind having a house in Malibu on the beach.

In CA you must pass the Civil PE before you are allowed to sit for the SE exams. So I think in order to obtain reciprocity in CA you would need to have your PE first (and also sit for their seismic and surveying exams). In IL you are not allowed to 'cross over' and get the PE if you have taken the SE I. They are mutually exclusive. I think it's smart that you are going to take the Civil PE/Strucutral Depth. I never took transpo, environmental or water/waste water and I passed. The morning is basic enough where even if you aren't familiar with the topics you can teach yourself. The morning structural questions are very basic... you could probably answer all of them in about ten to twenty minutes. If you can pass the SE I and SE II, you can definitely pass the Civil PE! Good luck!!