# PE Transportation exam need guidance



## smilestar (Jun 8, 2011)

Hi,

I am planning to take PE exam with emphasis on transportation. Can you guys please suggest the must have references. I currently have MUTCD and HCM.


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## tke899 (Jun 9, 2011)

smilestar said:


> Hi, I am planning to take PE exam with emphasis on transportation. Can you guys please suggest the must have references. I currently have MUTCD and HCM.


Make sure they are current versions.

Make sure you have the following along with your MUTCD and HCM:

AASHTO 2004 Policy on Geometric Design (Green Book)

Roadside Design Guide

AASHTO Guide for Pavement Design (I only used this on 1 questions but hey that's one more I couldn't have answered without it)

The Green Book and the HCM were used to a very large extent on the the afternoon portion of the exam.

85% of the morning I used the CERM so that was a big plus to have around.

Study Materials:

NCEES Practice Exams

6-Min Solutions (At the very least the transportation one)

With these materials I passed the exam on the first try. Do study I put in a lot of time. 2-3 hrs/night and 6-8hrs each day on weekends.

Goodluck


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## smilestar (Jun 9, 2011)

Thanks a lot for your response. The books are really expensive, now I have to find some good deals.


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## knight1fox3 (Jun 9, 2011)

smilestar said:


> Thanks a lot for your response. The books are really expensive, now I have to find some good deals.


Try Addall.com. Helped me to find references I wanted (although electrical) at discounted prices.


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## smilestar (Jun 9, 2011)

Thanks a lot.


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## Road Guy (Jun 9, 2011)

it takes a lot of books for civil &amp; especially transportation, but its worth having them.

they can easily be sold after the exam, but they are worth their weight (literally) during the exam...

also all the Federal Publications, you can also usaully print out updates to them online, of course then you have to put them in some sort of binder..


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## Charlrgs (Jun 9, 2011)

smilestar said:


> Hi, I am planning to take PE exam with emphasis on transportation. Can you guys please suggest the must have references. I currently have MUTCD and HCM.


The AASHTO Green Book and the CERM are must haves. The morning was all CERM and most of the problems I encountered in the afternoon used the HCM or the Green Book. I caution you though that there's usually one or two questions from each of the other suggested references. It doesn't hurt to have too many references, as long as you're familiar with them. Luckily for me, my employer had a technical reference library I was able to use so that I didn't have to spend money on all the books. If you can't get them that way, I suggest looking at you public library as an option.

Here's what I took in: CERM, Green Book, HCM, MUTCD, PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures, Roadside Design Guide, Asphalt Handbook (MS-4), ITE Traffic Engineering Handbook. I used everyone of them!


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## smilestar (Jun 9, 2011)

Yes, now that I have started making a list of what I need, It seems like a lot. I just got laid off so budget is kind of tight.


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## PsychoNumber1 (Jun 9, 2011)

the CERM is a good book, but I found the Civil Engineering Forumlas by Hicks to be easier to use on the fly, especially for water based questions. the CERM has a habit of defining variables in the text, whereas Hicks has the easier method

y=x+ab

where x=

a=

b=

some of the questions give you a value of a varible without the symbol, so you either have to know what it is or be able to pick it out of the text, which may be several paragraphs before. i would encourage everyone to check it out. it's not as comprehensive as the CERM, but it's a damn good supplement.

http://www.amazon.com/Civil-Engineering-Fo...7466&amp;sr=8-1


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