PE civil (STructural DEpth) 3

[malikasal]

I am finalizing my study plan for the PE civil (Structural depth) and i decided on these 2 main references.

1-

http://ppi2pass.com/practice-proble...ivil-engineering-reference-manual-cepp14.html

2-

http://ppi2pass.com/structural-depth-reference-manual-for-the-civil-pe-exam-1.html.

looking for the PEs in here to give me there valuable feedbacks/Comments/Advices.

any information will be highly appreciated !! .

Thank you all




ôIf you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.ö

Tony A. Gaskins Jr.

 

[appot]

I would recommend getting the SE book as well:
[URL unfurl="true"]http://ppi2pass.com/structural-engineering-reference-manual-strm8-8th-edition.html[/url]

The practice problems in the SE book are vastly different from the structural depth book. Content wise, the SE book has everything that the structural depth book has, plus much much more. I did not even open the depth book during the test, I only used the SE book.

Also get the CERM for the morning section, and do the practice problems in your reference #1. These two books will be of minimal use in the afternoon section.

I would not recommend getting the "Solved Problems" book unless you have a ton of time to study.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Never took the PE but the SERM was the #1 reference I used for the SE exam. I agree on the recommendations of SERM and CERM.

Professional and Structural Engineer (ME, NH)
American Concrete Industries

http://www.americanconcrete.com

 

[structSU10]

I took mine and past last spring. All I used in the morning was the CERM, had every reference I needed in it, and as long as you know in general where to look for what you need its pretty easy. the afternoon I had all the reference codes they listed, and I used all of them at least once. between them and the CERM it was very manageable and quite easy. I had purchased the sample exam from NCEES with the solution set, and mikes civil practice exam, and went through those a couple times each until I was comfortable and could do each in half the time I needed for the test. I'm in NY so you could take those into the test, which made some problems extra easy.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

malikasal - Its been a few years, but I have taught a review course for the PE Civil: Structural exam and performed behind-the-scenes technical review / editing for PPI's structural exam preparation book series. The single, most important check an Engineer should make when selecting a study reference is easy to do, but usually overlooked. See if the code editions used on the exam match the code editions covered in the study reference.

Here are the codes used for the October 2015 NCEES PE Civil: Structural exam: NCEES

Here are the codes used in your first link, the PPI "Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam: A Companion to the Civil Engineering Reference Manual (CEPP14), 14th Edition": PPI

There are significant discrepancies. Here are some examples (NCEES vs. PPI)

ACI 318: 2011 vs. 2008
ACI 530: 2011 vs. 2008
AISC: 14th Edition vs. 13th Edition
NDS: 2012 vs. 2005
PCI: 7th Edition vs. 6th Edition

Looks like this book is outdated.

Your second selection is a better fit, PPI "Structural Depth Reference Manual for the Civil PE Exam (CEST4), 4th Edition". Check it for yourself, the links to the codes used are on the PPI web page you have listed.

I assume you immediate goal is to pass the PE Civil: Structural exam. If so, I do not recommend using the PPI Structural Engineering Reference Manual. The codes are a good fit for your exam, but there are several addition codes covered that you will not need. Also, the problems covered by the SE manual will probably more complex than you will encounter on your exam.

If your longer term goal is to obtain an SE license, then the Structural Book is a great reference... but, in your case, delay studying it until after you have obtained the PE license.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[malikasal]

Thank you guys,



ôIf you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.ö

Tony A. Gaskins Jr.

 

[malikasal]

A follow up questions, i dont mind studying more than the exam requires so i am gonna go with the
SE reference manual :

http://ppi2pass.com/structural-engineering-reference-manual-strm8-8th-edition.html

instead of the structural depth one assuming that the SE reference manual will have all the materials covered in the structural depth one plus more and more materials (Please correct me if i am wrong) .



ôIf you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.ö

Tony A. Gaskins Jr.

 

[malikasal]

SlideRuleEra : Actually yea i am planing to take the SE exam after the PE, but why should i delay the SE reference studying, the thing is that i have a lot of time and i thought i could hit 2 birds with 1 stone.



ôIf you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.ö

Tony A. Gaskins Jr.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

I don't have the structural depth reference manual but, to the best of my knowledge, the SERM has more than enough references for the PE exam.

If you truly want to kill 2 birds with one stone why not take the SE in lieu of the PE? This many not be acceptable for some states but is usually good enough for most.

Professional and Structural Engineer (ME, NH)
American Concrete Industries

http://www.americanconcrete.com

 

[SlideRuleEra]

malikasal - The reason for my recommendation not to use the Structural Manual comes from observation of students in my course. Some were already PEs but were intimidated by the old SE I and SE II exams. They took my course as a first step toward studying for the SE. I agree that not every engineer needs to use a slow, deliberate study program for the SE exam - but many do.

The Civil Exam covers eight codes. The Structural Exam covers those eight plus four more. The four additional ones are:

AISC Seismic Design
AISI Cold Formed Steel Design
NDS Wind & Seismic Design
TMS Masonry Structures

Not everyone is familiar with these four, and would prefer the more basic study to obtain the PE license before proceeding to complex problems and unfamiliar codes. It's just personal choice.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[appot]

I took and passed the exam recently.

Note the following abbreviations that I will use:
SERM = Structural Engineering Reference Manual
SDERM = Structural Depth Reference Manual

The SERM has all the content as the SDERM plus more. Some of the extra content will not be needed. Some of the other content is helpful, such as the bridge chapter (especially if you are not familiar with AASHTO).

I recommend getting both, SERM and SDERM. The practice problems are 100% different in the two manuals. Study out of the SERM. Do the practice problems are of the SERM. Then do the practice problems out of the SDERM (while referencing the SERM). Finally, throw the SDERM away and bring SERM to the exam.

And yes, this post is regarding the civil structural PE exam, not the SE exam.

 

[malikasal]

when i tried to buy the "Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE Exam: A Companion to the Civil Engineering Reference Manual Fourteenth Edition Edition" , I found out that the PPI folks removed it from their website, but it is still available in Amazon, which made me kinda curious to know the reason behind removing it form their website.

Did any one here bought it ?? can anyone just scan the table of content of it, i am looking for a Practice problem book that could be used along the the CERM for the PE exam, it will help me a lot if the Practice problems i have is organized using the same chapters of the CERM, that way i can study a chapter from CERM and then go solve the problems in the practice problems book. and when i finish the 2 books i am planning to go through some sample exams untill i feel that i am ready. ( I would really appreciate any feedback on this study plan also).



ôIf you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.ö

Tony A. Gaskins Jr.

 

[appot]

I do not have my practice problem book anymore, but I do not think it had a table of contents.

It was broken done chapter by chapter to match the CERM. Some chapters did not have any practice problems, but many had several to a whole bunch. Doing these problems were very tedious but it was a huge asset in learning how the CERM was structured. The problems also taught me how to use the CERM indexes.

In layman's terms: just buy the damn book.

 

[Terratek]

If the SERM is anything like the CERM, I wouldn't recommend it except that its a big fat book that looks cool on my office book shelf. I took the PE, geotechnical depth and the CERM flat out didn't cover enough for geo and straight up covered WAY too much stuff in the other topics and goes crazy irrelevantly deep. Just my opinion. If you have a Testmaster's in your area, I would take them for their prep course. That's what I did. We get our scores in my state and I scored a 92. I give a lot of credit to the prep course. They work hard to keep the prep material as close as possible to what you may encounter so you don't waste your time delving into things that won't matter when you take the test. You end up with a binder of info which was my sole reference during the exam even though I brought some other books.