do we need the AISC ASD manual?

or is the CERM enough for the morning structural portion? everything i've studied always refers to that manual, and i'm worried i wont be able to do the problems without it.

mattsffrd said:

or is the CERM enough for the morning structural portion? everything i've studied always refers to that manual, and i'm worried i wont be able to do the problems without it.

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I passed the exam last October (Transp. Depth) - all you need is the CERM for the morning structural questions. In fact, for most morning structural questions I would say it is safe to say you just need to remember statics and elementary structural design (which are covered well in the CERM if you need a refresh - I did!).

VA_EIT said:

I passed the exam last October (Transp. Depth) - all you need is the CERM for the morning structural questions. In fact, for most morning structural questions I would say it is safe to say you just need to remember statics and elementary structural design (which are covered well in the CERM if you need a refresh - I did!).

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thanks, thats a relief, structural is not my strong point

one more question...if i study/tab all of the design standards, study/tab the CERM, do all of the practice problems in the CERM's accompanying problems book, do the CERM practice test, and do all the six minute solutions, and bring everything with me to to the test, will I be OK? or should i get/study something else too?

You can get by on the cerm.. But don't be surprised if one problem is an IBC/AISC only problem.

But no one needs to get 100%

mattsffrd said:

one more question...if i study/tab all of the design standards, study/tab the CERM, do all of the practice problems in the CERM's accompanying problems book, do the CERM practice test, and do all the six minute solutions, and bring everything with me to to the test, will I be OK? or should i get/study something else too?

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I would say that the CERM is enough to answer 35-37 out of 40 questions in the morning. Obviously, that doesn't mean that YOU will get 35/40 on the morning exam... just that the information to answer the questions is in the manual. You still need to be able to find it and use it

what about the afternoon portion? will i be ok with everything i listed? i already know the greenbook and HCM pretty well, and i've used the MUTCD and roadside design guide off and on. i need to read through the concrete book though.

^ sorry. I took structural in the afternoon, so I can't help you there.

cool, no problem. what about "pavement design criteria" listed in the morning geo section? whats a good resource for that?

hmmm... when I took the exam (Oct '07) morning Geo did not have any pavement design. I'm guessing that your transpo background will allow you to figure out anything you need as far as pavements go.

mattsffrd said:

one more question...if i study/tab all of the design standards, study/tab the CERM, do all of the practice problems in the CERM's accompanying problems book, do the CERM practice test, and do all the six minute solutions, and bring everything with me to to the test, will I be OK? or should i get/study something else too?

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Based on what you write above you should be OK. I would also recommend taking the NCEES sample examination because (even though some argue it is slightily easier than the real exam) I felt like it was great practice! I did everything you mentioned above and brought them in to the exam. Also, I would tab the CERM index separate - you can get this from PPI's website.

For the afternoon section I would make sure to bring in 2004 AASHTO, HCM, MUTCD and Roadside Design Guide - you will most likely have a significant amount of problems directly from these.

regarding pavement design criteria - this is no longer covered in the afternoon transportation depth, and the CERM is sufficient for the morning.

Best wishes!

awesome, thanks! honestly, the only thing that worries me is the non-calculation questions...basically you know the answer to something (or know where to find it) or you dont. most of those in the practice problems i've looked at are hard to find answers for.

Just to add to this...make sure you tab your transpo references. That makes all the difference in a test situation. Being familiar with it is great, but test time can cause people to panic. I'll look for it tonight, but in addition to tabbing I also made a road map for the references that basically was like this:

GREEN BOOK

Curves

Superelevation

and so on, for all the books. That way I didn't have to remember in a pressure situation that Work Zones are in the MUTCD...I just looked at my sheet, saw that it was in the MUTCD, then went to my work zone tab and solved a problem. This helps for look up and calculation problems. I think the best thing you can do is be so familiar with your materials that it's second nature. Best way to do that is by doing problems, which is sounds like you're doing.

yeah thats a good idea, i'll do that when i really start going through them. i'm saving transportation stuff for the last few weeks so its freshest in my mind, i've been doing everything else so far. then the weekend before the test i'm going to do both practice tests to see what i need to refresh myself on, then i'm taking the week off to go back over everything and study any weak areas.

mattsffrd said:

yeah thats a good idea, i'll do that when i really start going through them. i'm saving transportation stuff for the last few weeks so its freshest in my mind, i've been doing everything else so far. then the weekend before the test i'm going to do both practice tests to see what i need to refresh myself on, then i'm taking the week off to go back over everything and study any weak areas.

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yeah, CSB is right - I tabbed the heck out of every book, especially the CERM and my Transpo references. Actually, I borrowed them from my job - when I got back to work my co-workers wanted to keep the tabs in the Green Book, Roadside Design Guide, etc. because it was easier for them to look stuff up.

Anyway, I agree with your approach about saving the transp. stuff until the last few weeks. However, I would highly recommend taking the practice tests about a month in advance - I only took the NCEES test because it was 4 hours, and I just did the problems in the PPI test in a non-rushed manner. After taking the tests, I evaluated my strengths (Transportation, Geotech) and found out my glaring weaknesses (Structures), and was able to study over the next month.

IMO - If you take both practice tests the weekend before you will be wiped out for the actual exam, and you may find weaknesses that make you panic forcing you to study the week of the exam. I highly recommend not studying the week of - just relax, tab books, get stuff in order, etc.

My 2 cents

hmm, good point...i might just do that