CA Seismic Principles & Engineering Surveying Exam 1

[JRGse]

Hi

I've applied for the CA PE license by comity but need to take the State test for Seismic Principles & Engineering Surveying. I’m not too concerned with the seismic portion, but it’s been more years than I can to remember since I did any surveying calculations. Does anyone have any insight/suggestions for this portion of the exam?

Thanks for the replys.

 

[msquared48]

I had the same questions ten years ago.

Waiting...Waiting...Waiting...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[sandman21]

It is extremely hard, I have yet to find a good book to review with, unlike the seismic portion which was a breeze with review books.

 

[FixedEarth]

Item #4 of this link is all you need. Good luck.

http://www.passpe.com/manualsform.html

 

[dcarr82775]

I assume you are going to the California SE. I am saddened to hear that I'll have to study surveying.... Do the surveyors need to pass the PE as well?

 

[JRGse]

dcarr82775
I'm going to get the PE first. In CA you must be a PE before to can take the SE test. Per state law a PE can design most buildings (not hopitals & public schools). Its my understanding that some counties/municpalties require a SE not to mention the some specs also require this.
As for the surveyors having to pass the PE, I'm not sure.

 

[azcats]

I went into the surveying exam blind and prepared to fail. However, somehow I passed. If you have a good handle on geometry and trigonometry along with a bit of common sense it is passable. Learn how to manipulate sexagesimal angles and understand bearings and azimuths.

I'm sure you'd be more than prepared with the ~$350 kit noted above.

 

[JKStruct]

I passed both on the first shot. Personally, I thought the seismic was easy (we do a lot of commerical buildings in seismic areas)... I spent <20 hrs on that.

I started studying with a bare-minimum survey background. I knew what an azimuth was, and I had seen US Public Lands stuff before... but nonetheless, the only book I really used was the Cuomo book. I thought it was great.

http://ppi2pass.com/ppi/PPIShop?ct=SURVEYING&idx=&pr=SPCE2

I also borrowed a textbook from a coworker who had a surveying course, but I didn't really use it. All said, I think I spent probably 100-150 hours on Surveying stuff... went through Cuomo completely and did all of the sample problems.

 

[JKStruct]

Oh, and Good Luck!

 

[cvg]

I passed the survey on the first try, but the seismic was a bear and took 3 tries. that was 20 years ago, and I do very little structural work and had no seismic background or experience at all. At that time, the pass rate was between 7 - 20% passing. Surveyors take the RLS, not the PE so they don't have any seismic.

 

[westheimer1234]

Resa Mallahati book was highly recommended for surveying
Steven Hiner workbook is a MUST for seismic

 

[cessna98j]

Just passed the California civil PE w/ seismic and surveying - I personally thought that both seismic and surveying were harder than the main 8hr PE exam. However, there are probably just as many folks out there who would say the opposite.

I agree with westheimer above, that the Hiner workbook is a must for the seismic exam. That is what I used exclusively to prepare for the test. My recommendation would be to work every practice problem in that book at least once - a few times would be better.

I thought the surveying exam would be a breeze since I am pretty good with geometry and had worked on a surveying crew during my summers in college - I was wrong! You get roughly 3 minutes per problem and its amazing how in depth some of the problems are. I used the triage approach: quickly glance over all the problems at first and assign a 1, 2 or 3 based on level of difficulty. Work the 1's first, then 2's and 3's for last. I used the Cuomo book exclusively for preparation. While I feel it gave a good overview, there were a multitude of questions on CA specific laws and surveying datums that were not mentioned in the book - apparently I was good enough at guessing. I was most worried about passing the surveying exam after I had taken all 3.