# My thoughts on the grand-daddy of them all...



## McEngr (Oct 28, 2009)

Initial thoughts after taking the SE III:

1. Know your lateral force resisting systems, or at least have table 12.2-1 tabbed in your ASCE book.

2. Be prepared to work through a boat load of load combinations. Even on the simple wood problems, I had to check the LC vs. CsubD which is quite tedious for columns... argh!

3. Be prepared to be able to seismically detail a reinforced concrete moment frame - special AND intermediate.

4. Be prepared to know how to design the Moop and Mecc of seismically detailed special reinforced masonry shearwalls.

All-in-all, the exam wasn't that hard. If I didn't pass, it's because I made mistakes in regards to small minutia in the seismic chapters of ASCE or the material specification. Getting the ACI Seismic Detailing book by PCA was HUGE for me.

If I didn't pass, it's going to be one of those tests that I only pass based on luck because it's very much like a college exam without knowing exactly what's going to be on it.

*Don't* worry too much about indeterminate structures. *DO *worry about being able to understand computeried output from a program like RISA.

Anyone else that took the SE III is free to comment. I didn't do any bridge problems... not my cup of tea.


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## bcy (Oct 28, 2009)

McEngr said:


> Initial thoughts after taking the SE III:1. Know your lateral force resisting systems, or at least have table 12.2-1 tabbed in your ASCE book.
> 
> 2. Be prepared to work through a boat load of load combinations. Even on the simple wood problems, I had to check the LC vs. CsubD which is quite tedious for columns... argh!
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing your SE III experience with us McEngr. Now I see why you disappeared in the last few months 

I have a couple of questions for you:

1) any recommendations on study materials for SE III?

2) are wood and masonry based on LRFD or ASD?

Thanks.


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## McEngr (Oct 29, 2009)

bcy said:


> Thanks for sharing your SE III experience with us McEngr. Now I see why you disappeared in the last few months  I have a couple of questions for you:
> 
> 1) any recommendations on study materials for SE III?
> 
> ...


Hi bcy.

I'll answer questions respectively:

1) SEAOC Seismic Design Manual Vol I. Also, the Alan Williams book which summarizes all material specs for seismic is good too - Seismic and Wind Problems (vers 3). The PCA publication for Seismic Detialing of Concrete structures is good too.

2)Wood and masonry is whatever you decide. I believe it's better to just go ahead and use LRFD for everything because slender wall design isn't called "slender wall design" anymore - it's pretty much strength design. SEAOC Design Manual Vol II has a good example in there. With the SEAO (Oregon), I just saw a presentation on the SEAOC VOl II for wood and masonry, and it was comforting to know that I didn't screw anything up on Saturday.

Yes, I disappeared off the face of this website for a while... my apologies to anyone who actually cared. But, I'm here until I find out my results. I'm a bit of a loner when stress hits me like a brick.


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## kevo_55 (Oct 29, 2009)

Raises hand.

I cared McEngr! :wave2:

I knew you had RL stuff though. I am glad that you made it back!


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## McEngr (Oct 29, 2009)

kevo_55 said:


> Raises hand.
> I cared McEngr! :wave2:
> 
> I knew you had RL stuff though. I am glad that you made it back!


Hi Kevo,

When (or have you?) are you taking the SE III. Was it tough? Are you taking a break from the CA exams?


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## kevo_55 (Oct 29, 2009)

McEngr,

I'll be taking the SEIII next October.

I decided to give myself a break after those two CA "bonus exams."


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## Alex De Souza (Oct 29, 2009)

McEngr said:


> Initial thoughts after taking the SE III:1. Know your lateral force resisting systems, or at least have table 12.2-1 tabbed in your ASCE book.
> 
> 2. Be prepared to work through a boat load of load combinations. Even on the simple wood problems, I had to check the LC vs. CsubD which is quite tedious for columns... argh!
> 
> ...



McEngr,

I was there - too. Your recommendations are perfectly on the spot.

The problems were not hard, but little tricky in terms of footnotes!, proper systems... I think the main problem for me, and probably for the rest of the Nation, was the lenght questions. I could not complete the last part of second question in the morning and that of afternoon one, too.

ASCE chapter 11 and 12 are essentials for this exam. This year they had a small snow portion as well. You have to do lots of loading combination. You have to know and have to be qucik doing seismic loading determination. They really do want you to know loading cases and combinations. Since they give lots of unnecessary data, it is not that easy to find and use required load and combination during the exam. For example, I used wrong loading for concrete column just because it was not that clear!!!

I think, I did 65-70 percent of each questions right. Answered 16-17 parts of the total of 19. Now we have to wait till early February I guess.

Good luck to all.


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## McEngr (Oct 29, 2009)

Alex De Souza said:


> McEngr,
> I was there - too. Your recommendations are perfectly on the spot.
> 
> The problems were not hard, but little tricky in terms of footnotes!, proper systems... I think the main problem for me, and probably for the rest of the Nation, was the lenght questions. I could not complete the last part of second question in the morning and that of afternoon one, too.
> ...


Alex - right on! The snow problem was a complete bear.


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