PE Civil Structural Exam Questions
and Answers
The lateral strain (wall displacement) required to fully mobilize the soil passive pressure
is ____________ than the lateral strain required to fully mobilize the soil active pressure
- ANSWER-Considerably larger. Wall wants to move away from the backfill where the
active pressure occurs. It is considerably more difficult to get wall displacement in the
passive direction. The strain required to achieve the passive state is at lease twice that
required to reach active
Effective vertical stress (sigma) equals - ANSWER-Total stress at depth A minus pore
water pressure
A bridge footing is to be constructed in sand. The groundwater level is at ground
surface. The ultimate bearing capacity is based on what type of soil weight? -
ANSWER-Buoyant unit weight aka effective unit weight = saturated unit weight minus
the unit weight of water
Factor of Safety Against Overturning - ANSWER-FS = Resisting moment (wall weight,
passive pressure) / Active pressure moment
ASCE 7-16 Code Minimum Snow Load - ANSWER-Pm = Is min(20, Pg)
ASCE Exposure B - ANSWER-Urban and suburban areas, wooded areas, or other
terrain with many closely spaced obstructions
ASCE Exposure C - ANSWER-Open terrain with scattered obstructions
ASCE Exposure D - ANSWER-Flat, unobstructed areas and water surfaces
Minimum lateral force (E aka V base shear) lbs for seismic design category A -
ANSWER-v=0.01W
Service Load - ANSWER-Unfactored real load that member experiences
Eccentrically loaded foundation - ANSWER-e=M/P
Design spectral response acceleration at short periods - ANSWER-SDS
Mapped spectral response acceleration - ANSWER-Ss (0.2 second)/ S1 (1 second)
