Constrution Depth - Oct 2010

[jdwood1111]

Add my name to the list of failures. This is my first post, been a watcher for awhile but i failed the construction afternoon BAD and now i'm at a loss. I did not feel that i did this bad at all but now i'm considering taking another afternoon concentration. I had what I felt were all the right resources and i don't know what went wrong. I now have to drop out my masters class (just started on monday) so that i can take the time and study for April and try and get this test done with but i'm not sure what to take. Any thoughts? My concentration during school was structures, but i do not feel i am strong enough in them so i was leaning towards transportation or geotech.

 

[consteng]

Add my name to the list of failures. This is my first post, been a watcher for awhile but i failed the construction afternoon BAD and now i'm at a loss. I did not feel that i did this bad at all but now i'm considering taking another afternoon concentration. I had what I felt were all the right resources and i don't know what went wrong. I now have to drop out my masters class (just started on monday) so that i can take the time and study for April and try and get this test done with but i'm not sure what to take. Any thoughts? My concentration during school was structures, but i do not feel i am strong enough in them so i was leaning towards transportation or geotech.

I totally understand how you feel, I am in the same situation. I am now debating whether to take transportation in April. I attended school of pe and their bonus class for construction was not that helpful. I will take a look at the NCEES sample problems for transpo to help me decide..Good luck!

 

[bopsilog]

Add my name to the list of failures. This is my first post, been a watcher for awhile but i failed the construction afternoon BAD and now i'm at a loss. I did not feel that i did this bad at all but now i'm considering taking another afternoon concentration. I had what I felt were all the right resources and i don't know what went wrong. I now have to drop out my masters class (just started on monday) so that i can take the time and study for April and try and get this test done with but i'm not sure what to take. Any thoughts? My concentration during school was structures, but i do not feel i am strong enough in them so i was leaning towards transportation or geotech.

I took Geo last October to save money from buying references. I scored 36/80. My lowest scores were in Geo topics too. EMBARASSING is an understatement! I am shifting to Construction for the April test. I don't have any construction experience here in the US but that was were my highest scores were so I'm giving it a shot!

 

[consteng]

Add my name to the list of failures. This is my first post, been a watcher for awhile but i failed the construction afternoon BAD and now i'm at a loss. I did not feel that i did this bad at all but now i'm considering taking another afternoon concentration. I had what I felt were all the right resources and i don't know what went wrong. I now have to drop out my masters class (just started on monday) so that i can take the time and study for April and try and get this test done with but i'm not sure what to take. Any thoughts? My concentration during school was structures, but i do not feel i am strong enough in them so i was leaning towards transportation or geotech.

I took Geo last October to save money from buying references. I scored 36/80. My lowest scores were in Geo topics too. EMBARASSING is an understatement! I am shifting to Construction for the April test. I don't have any construction experience here in the US but that was were my highest scores were so I'm giving it a shot!

My advice is try to get and bring to the exam all the references that NCEES recommends and be prepared for very very tricky problems even those look up questions.

 

[bopsilog]

Add my name to the list of failures. This is my first post, been a watcher for awhile but i failed the construction afternoon BAD and now i'm at a loss. I did not feel that i did this bad at all but now i'm considering taking another afternoon concentration. I had what I felt were all the right resources and i don't know what went wrong. I now have to drop out my masters class (just started on monday) so that i can take the time and study for April and try and get this test done with but i'm not sure what to take. Any thoughts? My concentration during school was structures, but i do not feel i am strong enough in them so i was leaning towards transportation or geotech.

I took Geo last October to save money from buying references. I scored 36/80. My lowest scores were in Geo topics too. EMBARASSING is an understatement! I am shifting to Construction for the April test. I don't have any construction experience here in the US but that was were my highest scores were so I'm giving it a shot!

My advice is try to get and bring to the exam all the references that NCEES recommends and be prepared for very very tricky problems even those look up questions.

Thanks. That's what I'm planning to do. One positive thing about failing: I now understand some of the topics that I didn't have any idea at all last time.

 

[consteng]

Add my name to the list of failures. This is my first post, been a watcher for awhile but i failed the construction afternoon BAD and now i'm at a loss. I did not feel that i did this bad at all but now i'm considering taking another afternoon concentration. I had what I felt were all the right resources and i don't know what went wrong. I now have to drop out my masters class (just started on monday) so that i can take the time and study for April and try and get this test done with but i'm not sure what to take. Any thoughts? My concentration during school was structures, but i do not feel i am strong enough in them so i was leaning towards transportation or geotech.

I took Geo last October to save money from buying references. I scored 36/80. My lowest scores were in Geo topics too. EMBARASSING is an understatement! I am shifting to Construction for the April test. I don't have any construction experience here in the US but that was were my highest scores were so I'm giving it a shot!

My advice is try to get and bring to the exam all the references that NCEES recommends and be prepared for very very tricky problems even those look up questions.

Thanks. That's what I'm planning to do. One positive thing about failing: I now understand some of the topics that I didn't have any idea at all last time.

.....and you get to explore this forum, hear and learn from people you feel understand you the most especially after hearing the BAD news. It was comforting to know that you are not alone in this quest.

 

[jdwood1111]

Thanks for the advice and kind words, it does helping knowing your not alone. I seriously had almost all the NCEES resources and even a 250 page binder of NCEES review material and sample problems and still managed to not do well. I even did a DIY DVD review course at home for the morning (i was working some nights and could not attend an actual class). The questions that annoyed me were the easy ones. There was an estimating problem that was extremely length, 15 mins and i got an answer directly in between two of the choices. I spent so much money on the construction references i almost just want to try it again to justify buying them. I know i can sell them and buy new ones, but i just don't know what to take. I'll have to explore the transporation and geotech posts.

 

[bopsilog]

Now I'm really worried. Last time I wanted to take CM, but after following the PPI forums I decided to take Geo. And now I'm hearing the same thing about CM...Oh, bless me!

Were there any questions about resource scheduling? I am reading this thing right now and it looks like too much work!

 

[consteng]

Now I'm really worried. Last time I wanted to take CM, but after following the PPI forums I decided to take Geo. And now I'm hearing the same thing about CM...Oh, bless me!
Were there any questions about resource scheduling? I am reading this thing right now and it looks like too much work!

Here are the topics covered in the construction depth:

1. Earthwork, Construction & Layout

2. Estimating Quantities and Costs

3. Construction Operations and Methods

4. Scheduling

5. Material Quality Control and Production

6. Temporary Structures

7. Workers-Health & Safety & Environment

8. Other Topics

 

[bopsilog]

@consteng:

Noted, thank you...

 

[bopsilog]

I passed the Construction. Knowing your economics is key. Understanding depreciation and interest. Also, having the right reference books. I had my OSHA book, which made several of the questions really easy. I didn't have the ACI book, so I missed another really easy question. Understanding CPM schedules was important, there were at least 4 questions on these. And understanding basic structure design was helpful. I struggled on the SOE portion of the test, and it seemed like there were a lot of these questions. To me, the hardest part of the exam was the morning session, all those environmental and transportation questions. Thank god for the Civil Handbook.

@trussnorris:

Are these books helpful at all? I'm planning on buying the first 2, I already got Nunnally's. Thanks.

Construction Engineering for Civil Engineering License, Mansour 2010

New Civil Engineering Construction Module for the Civil PE Exam, Dauenheimer

Construction Methods and Management (6th Edition),S. W. Nunnally

 

[bopsilog]

@ StaceyG: Will it matter having a "non-Federal Gov't." authored OSHA book, like CCH or by somebody else? Do you have the link for Temporary Structures? I found one by University of Washington, course title is CM 420, it is very comprehensive and would be very helpful in actual designing job. But I wish it has some practice problems. Thanks.

 

[lotty]

This was my fourth time taking the Civil-CM exam. The first few times I thought tabbing a few references would get me through. Unfortunately, by assuming a straight up 70% out of 80, I kept missing by only a couple questions.

The fourth time, I did as many practice problems as I could get my hands on. There aren't too many good references yet for construction, but I felt like 1. "Civil PE Professional Engineer exam Construction module,Third Edition" by Rajapakse had a lot of practice problems. Don't waste your time on the second edition, it was not real helpful.

Another reference that helped me was "Civil Engineering All-In-One PE Exam Guide: Breadth and Depth" by Indranil Goswami. There were some errors, but if you were paying attention they weren't that big of a deal.

 

[lotty]

This was my fourth time taking the Civil-CM exam. The first few times I thought tabbing a few references would get me through. Unfortunately, by assuming a straight up 70% out of 80, I kept missing by only a couple questions.
The fourth time, I did as many practice problems as I could get my hands on. There aren't too many good references yet for construction, but I felt like 1. "Civil PE Professional Engineer exam Construction module,Third Edition" by Rajapakse had a lot of practice problems. Don't waste your time on the second edition, it was not real helpful.

Another reference that helped me was "Civil Engineering All-In-One PE Exam Guide: Breadth and Depth" by Indranil Goswami. There were some errors, but if you were paying attention they weren't that big of a deal.

I guess I should add I passed the fourth time!

 

[jdwood1111]

The All-in-One Civil book was one that i did not have. The only other books i didn't have on the list was the Concrete handbook (had a different one) and the ACI SP-4 (too much money). However, i did not have a lot of experience with ACI318 or the Wood Code and i actually think that hurt me. I need to brush up on scheduling a decent amount and apparently estimating, which i thought was easy and would have done better. I'm going to take the construction again in April and see how that goes then make a decision if i don't pass again. I bought too many resources to not use them at least one more time. Plus, i'm pissed and want to pass the stupid thing...lol

 

[bopsilog]

The All-in-One Civil book was one that i did not have. The only other books i didn't have on the list was the Concrete handbook (had a different one) and the ACI SP-4 (too much money). However, i did not have a lot of experience with ACI318 or the Wood Code and i actually think that hurt me. I need to brush up on scheduling a decent amount and apparently estimating, which i thought was easy and would have done better. I'm going to take the construction again in April and see how that goes then make a decision if i don't pass again. I bought too many resources to not use them at least one more time. Plus, i'm pissed and want to pass the stupid thing...lol

I honestly can't afford the references for CM, but I will try it for the April test, I'll borrow as many as I can. I picked GM last time for the same reason and I failed! Well, like you I'm pissed. lol. I couldn't pass a **** engineering test in one try. It took me 2 tries for my Philippine CE test and 2 for the FE. I hope it will only take me 2 for the PE! I'm beginning to doubt my engineering knowledge now! Good luck to all of us retakers!

PS. We are forming a study group for Colorado Springs, CO. Member count as of today is 2. Let me know if anybody is interested.

 

[MichaelP]

I passed in the Civil-Construction in CA - first time taker. I just received results last night. Still waiting on the CA (state specific) Seismic and Surveying Exam results.

I brought those two CRAPPY Books by Ruwan Rabjapabski, one was a reference and one had practice problems. Not even sure how he got that book published, considering the book was way random, non concise, no table of contents or index - I'm not even sure they had page numbers...

Anyway those were the only "construction specific" books I brought. The others were:

1. Surveying study materials meant for CA state-specific surveying exam

2. CERM (linburg)

3. A PM text book from college (a small paper-back that had things like CMP method and earned-value methods) - although the CERM has much of this

4. Linburg construction practice problems -( the practice problem book that has all subjects and goes with the CERM) - this book had allot of OSHA, CMP, earthwork, and staking questions, but was missing a lot of things due to the fact that it is geared for construction questions you may come across in the AM test.

5. NCEES practice exam - had a 20 question 1/2 scale construction PM exam

6. those two crappy books by Ruwan Rabjapabski

I did not worry about OSHA references, Temporary Loading references and a couple other topics.

My strategy to pass the PE (which worked) was to Ace the AM portion of the test (which is SO EASY), then 2nd to that, ace the portions of the PM exam that are easy to me (or that I had study materials for).

Remember, you don't need to get 100% to pass. I think for some (and for me) studying all kinds of different stuff causes poorer performance on all. I focused on some things much more than others and perfected them. Keeping a strategy that is based on the point-break-down that NCEES provides, so you know how many points each type of problem will account for in the exam, then getting enough problem types mastered to get your PM score around 65% and AM score around 90% - then you pass.

 

[consteng]

I passed in the Civil-Construction in CA - first time taker. I just received results last night. Still waiting on the CA (state specific) Seismic and Surveying Exam results.
I brought those two CRAPPY Books by Ruwan Rabjapabski, one was a reference and one had practice problems. Not even sure how he got that book published, considering the book was way random, non concise, no table of contents or index - I'm not even sure they had page numbers...

Anyway those were the only "construction specific" books I brought. The others were:

1. Surveying study materials meant for CA state-specific surveying exam

2. CERM (linburg)

3. A PM text book from college (a small paper-back that had things like CMP method and earned-value methods) - although the CERM has much of this

4. Linburg construction practice problems -( the practice problem book that has all subjects and goes with the CERM) - this book had allot of OSHA, CMP, earthwork, and staking questions, but was missing a lot of things due to the fact that it is geared for construction questions you may come across in the AM test.

5. NCEES practice exam - had a 20 question 1/2 scale construction PM exam

6. those two crappy books by Ruwan Rabjapabski

I did not worry about OSHA references, Temporary Loading references and a couple other topics.

My strategy to pass the PE (which worked) was to Ace the AM portion of the test (which is SO EASY), then 2nd to that, ace the portions of the PM exam that are easy to me (or that I had study materials for).

Remember, you don't need to get 100% to pass. I think for some (and for me) studying all kinds of different stuff causes poorer performance on all. I focused on some things much more than others and perfected them. Keeping a strategy that is based on the point-break-down that NCEES provides, so you know how many points each type of problem will account for in the exam, then getting enough problem types mastered to get your PM score around 65% and AM score around 90% - then you pass.

Congratulations! I think my mistake was I concentrated or spent much of my time studying for construction module and gave less emphasis on the other topics for the morning. I also bought several references like the all in one, estimating construction costs, and Ruwan, which I was not able to even read prior to the test. I will definitely change my strategy if I am going to take construction again. I have not decided whether to take it in April or October but I think I should attend a live review course before trying it again.

 

[caengineer]

I took construction depth two times and did not pass....last October I made the switch to water which I am comfortable with and passed.

I don't think there is any reference that can be compared to the type of problems you will see in the construction depth.....which makes studying for this subject a little tricky and with no guarantees. On the other hand, there are tons of study material and solved problems for all the other modules.....all you need to do is to get exposure to as many concepts as possible...waste your valuable time solving problems instead of searching for good references that don't exist

What's funny is that I was taking construction depth and was not doing well even in the morning portion. Lesson learned here go with what you are comfortable with even if it seems more difficult....many ppl were complaining of the environmental problems but to me...it was a breeze

 

[avd]

Remember, you don't need to get 100% to pass. I think for some (and for me) studying all kinds of different stuff causes poorer performance on all. I focused on some things much more than others and perfected them. Keeping a strategy that is based on the point-break-down that NCEES provides, so you know how many points each type of problem will account for in the exam, then getting enough problem types mastered to get your PM score around 65% and AM score around 90% - then you pass.

THIS

This is good advice for FE and PE exams..... rule #1 for any one preparing for an exam.