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.
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.