Search Ebook here:


Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam Fourteenth Edition



 PDF

Author: Lindeburg PE, Michael R.

Publisher: PPI, A Kaplan Company

Genres:

Publish Date: July 1, 2014

ISBN-10: 1591264537

Pages: 1584

File Type: PDF

Language: English

read download

Book Preface

As I mentioned in the preface to the thirteenth edition, I am chagrined to admit that I never read a single preface while I was in college. Out of the prefaces of 100 or so textbooks written by witty, clever, dedicated, and famous experts, I never read a single word. Since then, I’ve added hundreds of additional books to my library, and I’ve only read a few of their prefaces. I certainly have never written to an author and said, “Hey, I loved your preface.” Nor have I ever received such a communication about any book that I have written. So, why does a book even need a preface?
The preface usually explains (a) why the author wanted to write the book, (b) why the book turned out the way it did, and (c) how the book differs from the previous edition. Whereas subsequent chapters after the preface constitute a book’s brain, the preface constitutes a book’s heart and soul. You don’t have to read its preface for a book to have utility. The real “value” is in the subsequent chapters. However, if you want a special connection with the book, if you want to get inside the author’s head, if you want to feel what you are learning, you should start by reading its preface.
New books are written for a variety of reasons; new editions less so. Typically, new editions are written to replace old editions that have become somehow inadequate. Although I’ve read some that come close, authors don’t intentionally write books to be inadequate when they are first published; instead, their books just evolve into obsolescence and inadequacy over time. Now and then, however, the reason behind publishing a new edition is more complex.
For example, sometimes a perfectly good book can become suddenly obsolete due to an external event. This book has had many “sudden” new editions (and this fourteenth edition is no exception), which were triggered by some change to the civil PE exam. Typical exam changes that have required publishing a new edition of this book include revisions to the codes and standards on which the civil PE exam is based, as well as changes to the exam’s body of knowledge, format, administration, and emphasis on (i.e., number of questions for) each subject.
Other times, new editions are driven by authors’ desire to add new material or to improve preexisting material. Sometimes they’re driven by a need to incorporate accumulated corrections.
Rarely, due to the huge amount of work involved, new editions are initiated when a publisher changes the ing, illustrating, etc.) its books. For example, decades ago, PPI brought out new editions when it stopped inking illustrations with Rapidograph pens and started rendering illustrations electronically. That hardly seems like big news these days. Slightly less in the dark ages was PPI’s adoption of Donald Knuth’s then-revolutionary TeX programming language for typesetting complex mathematical material, as well as the use of XML and MathML for anything that was destined for access via the internet. More recently, the twelfth edition of this book was the first to be published out of PPI’s proprietary online book development and maintenance system affectionately known as OBDAMS. Without these advances in publishing technology, you’d still be holding a book produced on a typewriter with rub-down characters for anything more complex than qwertyuiop.
This fourteenth edition of the Civil Engineering Reference Manual represents a complex agglomeration of the reasons mentioned: revisions to exam codes and standards, addition of new and improved material, changes in how the exam is administered, and new publication technology.
The reasons this fourteenth edition turned out the way that it did are as complex as the reasons why it was written in the first place. First, like its predecessors, this edition was developed in an ethical and professional manner. This means that only the NCEES published outline of exam subjects guided me when I wrote this edition. It may seem strange to you that a book designed to help you pass the civil PE exam would not be based on the actual exam content; however, though not associated with NCEES in any way, both PPI and I share its passion for exam security. Therefore, no actual exam content is present in this book.
Second, as a professional engineer, I understand it is my responsibility to protect the public, while still helping qualified applicants to prepare for their future careers as engineers. This means that to help you review and learn the engineering concepts necessary to pass the civil PE exam (and thus, go on to protect the public), PPI went far beyond industry standards in getting content checked and reviewed, edited, and proofread.
Finally, this book is the way that it is because I wrote it to be the kind of textbook I would want to help me learn the concepts needed to pass the civil PE exam. You won’t have to go very far to find someone who will tell you that this book goes far beyond the subjects covered on the civil PE exam. This is true. I have my own idea of what engineering concepts the civil PE exam should cover, and I’ve woven those concepts into this book. You may disagree with this practice. Indeed, history has shown that my expectations of what an engineer with a minimum of four years of experience should know are very high. (You would probably have to read trade and industry publications every day to have the knowledge that I want you to have when you go in to take your civil PE exam.) However, I’ve incorporated those concepts because I don’t just want you to review or learn “some engineering” from this book. Instead, I want you to actually be a better engineer for having read it. Think of passing your exam as icing on the cake of being a great engineer.
Regardless of why I wrote this edition, or why this edition turned out the way that it did, inevitably, PPI’s Customer Care (what PPI calls “Customer Service”) department will need to answer the pre-purchase questions such as, “What has changed?” and, “Do I really need to purchase this book?” and, “I have the 6th edition. Can I use it?” This department also has to deal with irate customers who purchased the previous edition 25 months ago and swear they would have waited if they had known that Michael Lindeburg was writing a new edition. (Hey, everyone: I’m always writing a new edition. But, only the publisher knows when it is coming out.)
To answer those questions and to help the Customer Care department answer such questions, I’m writing this script: “Yes. You absolutely need to get this new edition. The author didn’t write it for nothing. He wrote it because the exam changed. He wrote it because it is better. He wrote it because it’s more helpful, easier to understand, more complete, and better organized. This edition differs from the 6th (or 7th, or 8th, etc.) edition in several hundred thousand ways. No, a zillion ways. You won’t know everything that’s changed, but you will benefit from the changes. You don’t use obsolete technology like a buggy whip, leaded fuel, a rotary-dial phone, carbon paper, or an IBM Selectric typewriter any more, do you? Instead, you drive a motorized car, use unleaded fuel, talk ‘hands-free’ on your cell phone, send emails (from this same phone!), and type on your personal laptop. The iPad™ has changed your life, and so will this book. Still not convinced you need this edition? Let me put it another way: You wouldn’t study for your driver’s license test using a 1968 copy of the DMV laws, would you? No, you wouldn’t. So, why then, would you take a book based on obsolete material into the most important examination of your career? Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish. In fact, don’t be foolish, period. You need this fourteenth edition.”
To satisfy the marketing department, which inevitably wants to know what’s changed since the thirteenth edition, I’ll say: “This book is completely consistent with the NCEES exam content and breadth-and-depth format, and it is equally representative of the codes and standards NCEES has adopted for the exam. In fact, the largest replacement of content that took place in this edition occurred in order to make material consistent with the NCEES-adopted codes and standards. (The actual codes and standards used by this book are listed in this book’s “Codes Used to Prepare This Book” section of the front matter.)”
The structural chapters reflect NCEES’ reliance on specific editions and releases of ACI 318, ACI 530 and 530.1, AISC Steel Construction Manual, ASCE7, the IBC, NDS, the PCI Design Handbook, and AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications.
For concrete, solutions based on ACI 318 App. C may not be used on the exam. This book provides solutions using only ACI 318 Chap. 9 (the so-called “unified”) methods.
For steel, you may still use either LRFD or ASD on the exam. Therefore, this book presents both solving methods in parallel so regardless of which method you choose to study—load and resistance factor design or allowable stress design—you will be supported.
For masonry, only ASD may be used on the exam, with the exception that strength design (SD) Sec. 3.3.5 may be used for walls with out-of-plane loads. This book provides ASD solutions, followed by SD solutions for additional reference.
As with the thirteenth edition, this book contains a chapter covering some bridge topics. Bridge rating is not specifically identified by NCEES as an exam subject, although bits and pieces of bridge design, analysis, and construction are implicit in other civil engineering activities that are covered on the exam. Given the great likelihood of future transportation funding shortfalls, even with the ongoing dedicated and noble efforts of our state DOTs, I feel that all professional engineers should be able to speak about the U.S. transportation infrastructure. This bridges chapter is a stub that I intend to continue to flesh out in future editions according to my own observations.
The transportation chapters reflect NCEES’ reliance on specific editions of AASHTO A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book), AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, AASHTO Roadside Design Guide, AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities, AI The Asphalt Handbook, NRC Highway Capacity Manual, FHWA Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), FHWA Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts, and PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures.
The construction chapters reflect NCEES’ reliance on specific editions of ACI 318, ACI 347, ACI SP-4, AISC Steel Construction Manual, ASCE 37, NDS, CMWB Standard Practice for Bracing Masonry Walls During Construction, and OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry.

Still, the majority of what NCEES considers to be “construction” was already present in this book and continues to be covered in other chapters. Earthwork, foundations, slope stability, compaction, temporary structures, and other geotechnical subjects are in their own chapters, as are formwork, engineering economics, construction law, and many other construction subjects. Although there is no single chapter titled “Construction” that contains everything NCEES thinks you should know, this book presents the Construction topic to the same degree of detail as other topics—regardless of where you read it.


Download Ebook Read Now File Type Upload Date
Download here Read Now PDF May 30, 2020

How to Read and Open File Type for PC ?