# NCEES Specifications vs. _______



## MC_Engineer (Mar 20, 2008)

I've only been searching around the forum for about an hour so I apologize in advance if this question is answered in another thread ...

I've been studying topics per the the NCEES April 2008 Civil Exam Specifications. It would appear that NCEES will be asking BREADTH Transpo questions on a very limited number of subjects:

A. Geometric Design

1.Horizontal

2.Vertical

...

6.Acceleration

http://www.ncees.org/exams/professional/pe..._exam_specs.pdf

Does anyone think this is in anyway accurate? The other website recommends studying four times this many tranpo subjects for the breadth. I know there is the "not exhaustive" disclaimer but I'm running out of time and would like to believe that I can get by with only studying this limited amount of transpo stuff.

What do you all think? I assume this has come up before ...


----------



## IlPadrino (Mar 21, 2008)

Remember, this is the first exam under the new depth areas (ConE added and WR/Enviro combined). I think the best thing to do is follow the NCEES guidance. It seems some of the former-Transpo areas have been put under ConE (e.g. economics, CPM, earthwork, if memory serves me correct).


----------



## MC_Engineer (Mar 22, 2008)

Thanks for this response.

The main question I have is this: I've been unsuccessful in locating NCEES Civil PE exam specifications for past years. What did Transportation used to have listed for breadth subject areas?



IlPadrino said:


> Remember, this is the first exam under the new depth areas (ConE added and WR/Enviro combined). I think the best thing to do is follow the NCEES guidance. It seems some of the former-Transpo areas have been put under ConE (e.g. economics, CPM, earthwork, if memory serves me correct).


----------



## IlPadrino (Mar 22, 2008)

MC_Engineer said:


> Thanks for this response.
> The main question I have is this: I've been unsuccessful in locating NCEES Civil PE exam specifications for past years. What did Transportation used to have listed for breadth subject areas?


Read the introduction of the CERM - you'll find information there.


----------



## roadwreck (Mar 22, 2008)

IlPadrino said:


> Read the introduction of the CERM - you'll find information there.


or you can view that section of the CERM 10th edition which I uploaded in this thread

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?s=&amp;amp...t&amp;p=6620716


----------



## djsarata (Mar 23, 2008)

MC_Engineer said:


> I've only been searching around the forum for about an hour so I apologize in advance if this question is answered in another thread ...
> I've been studying topics per the the NCEES April 2008 Civil Exam Specifications. It would appear that NCEES will be asking BREADTH Transpo questions on a very limited number of subjects:
> 
> A. Geometric Design
> ...


I contacted NCEES about this very question thinking there was an error and more topics should have been covered. Their response was that there was no error and the list of topics is what it is. It is that short.

Daniel...


----------



## Tark62 (Mar 23, 2008)

The old specs for AM Transportation, according to my CERM10, included:

_Traffic Analysis:_ capacity analysis

_Construction: _excavation/embankment, material handling, optimization, scheduling

_Geometric Design:_ horizontal curves, vertical curves, sight distance

It would appear that "traffic analysis" has been dropped, and that "construction" has been moved to the new AM Construction section, leaving only "geometic design" in AM Transportation.

April 2008 will be the first time that the Civil PE exam has been administered under the new specifications, so it's currently difficult to verify the exam scope. If the NCEES Civil PE Sample Exam has been updated for the new specs, you might want to look at that. Most people find that the NCEES Sample Exam is very close, in both format and difficulty, to the actual exam.


----------



## MC_Engineer (Mar 23, 2008)

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am glad to see I am not the only one feeling a little confused about this.

Thanks especially for telling me about the phone-call to NCEES. I have the "NCEES Principles and Practice CIVIL Sample Questions &amp; Solutions" which I believe is aka the NCEES sample exam. I'll be administering that to myself tomorrow.

Thanks again for the support!


----------



## DVINNY (Mar 26, 2008)

Just because they (NCEES) have added a new PM module, I doubt that they changed the AM portion at all.

They just changed how the questions are 'categorized'. &lt;- This is my guess, but I'd say thats it.

That means, the descriptions of the AM problems have been moved around on the topics sheet, but it will basically be the same AM stuff.

Just my 2 cents.


----------



## inspirit00 (Mar 26, 2008)

Has anyone noticed that 'Pavement Design' is also no longer a part of the afternoon Transportation depth or bikes and transit for that matter? So, does that mean we should not study the SN and ESAL's cals etc.?


----------



## IlPadrino (Mar 26, 2008)

DVINNY said:


> Just because they (NCEES) have added a new PM module, I doubt that they changed the AM portion at all.They just changed how the questions are 'categorized'. &lt;- This is my guess, but I'd say thats it.
> 
> That means, the descriptions of the AM problems have been moved around on the topics sheet, but it will basically be the same AM stuff.
> 
> Just my 2 cents.


I don't think that's true... the Construction breadth has some new topics (e.g. estimating quantities and costs) and the distribution of Water Resources and Environmental are a *combined* 20% to make room for 20% Construction. I agree the Structural and Geotechnical are probably pretty similar and Transportation problems may just be moved around.

Still, it's just an opinion - some of us will know for sure in another months.


----------



## DVINNY (Mar 27, 2008)

^^ TRUE.

A test will tell.


----------



## Guest (Mar 27, 2008)

DVINNY said:


> ^^ TRUE.
> A test will tell.


As long as the test TAKER doesn't tell ... all is good. :thumbs:

That brings up a point. How are we supposed to beef-up providing assistance for the Construction discipline if there is a no-talk policy??

Do you think RG can use some of his pull with Lindeburg for some constructive (no pun intended) pointers?

JR


----------



## IlPadrino (Mar 27, 2008)

jregieng said:


> As long as the test TAKER doesn't tell ... all is good. :thumbs:


I don't think there's any restriction on taking about the general nature of the test. Anyone have the specific "thou shall not" statement handy?


----------

