CIVIL ENGINEERING BOARD EXAMS PROBLEMS PHILS.

PRELIMINARY ROUNDS

Write the best answer on the following questions. Any form of erasure is considered incorrect.
Points for each subject will still be applied in the actual board examinations. Top 20% of the remaining contestants advance to the
ULTIMATUM ROUND. No Solution No point Policy (18-14-18 system)

I. MATHEMATICS, SURVEYING, AND TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

1. A line was measured to have 5 tallies , 6 marking pins and 63.5 links. How long is the line in meters in 3 significant
digits.

2. A vertical curve 120 m long of the parabola type is to join a falling gradient of 1 in 200 to a rising gradient of 1 in 300. If
the level of the intersection of the two gradients is 30.36 m, find the highest elevation of the curve.

3. An elevated concrete tank is filled through its inlet pipe and then is emptied through the outlet pipe in a total time of 9
hours. If water enters through the inlet and is simultaneously allowed to leave through the outlet, the tank is filled in 20
hours. How long will it take to fill the tank if the outlet is closed?

4. In this concept, the interest is compounded at the end of each definite period.

5. A curve road 74 m in radius has a super elevation of 0.12 and a design speed of 0.80 kph. Determine the coefficient of
friction between the tires and the pavement.

6. A polyhedron has 12 faces and 16 vertices. How many edges does it have?

7. The angle of intersection of a circular curve is 53 40 and its radius is 800 m. If the stationing of PC = 35 + 180,
compute the angle of the central curve.

8. Doris Wade purchased a condominium for P 50,000 in 1987. Her down payment was P 20,000. She financed the
remaining amount as a $30,000, 30-year mortgage at 7%, compounded monthly. Her monthly payments are P 200. It
is now 2007 (20 years later and Doris has sold the condominium for P 100,000, immediately after making her 240th
payment on the unit. Her effective annual internal rate of return on this investment is closest to which answer below?

9. It includes those nonrecurring costs of shutting down the operation and the retirement and disposal of assets at the
end of the life cycle. Normally, costs associated with personnel, materials, transportation, and one-time special
activities can be expected.

10. Find the exact value of cos 15.

11. Line of levels between B and C run over four different routes. B is at elevation 825 m and is higher than C.
Route Distance Difference in
(km) Elevation (m)
1 2 0.86
2 6 0.69
3 4 0.75
4 8 1.02

Determine the most probable elevation of C in meters.

12. When turning an angle, the vertical cross hair must be directly on the survey point for a proper line of sight. The effect
of error in sighting is similar to that of inaccurate centering over the point. This is described as error in ___________.

13. A rectangular bin, open at the top, is required to contain 128 m^3. If the bottom is to be a square, at a cost of P 2 per
sq m, while the sides cost P 0.50 per square meter, what is the side of the square at minimum cost?

14. An investment of P 40,000 has a revenue of x pesos at the end of first and second year. Given a discount rate of 15%
compounded annually, find x so that the net present worth of the investment is zero.

15. A transit with a stadia constant of 0.30 is used to determine the horizontal distance between points B and C , with a
stadia intercept reading of 1.85 m. The distance BC is equal to 182.87 m. Compute the stadia interval factor of the
instrument.

16. Given the equation of the ellipse x^2/16 + y^2/4 = 1, find the largest rectangular region that can be inscribed in the
ellipse.

17. A30-year fixed ratemortgage is available now at 7% APR. Monthly payments (360 of them) will be made on a
$200,000 loan. The realtor says that if you wait several months to obtain a mortgage, the APR could be as high as
8%, and the monthly payments will jump by 14%. What percent increase in monthly payment will result from this 1%
increase in APR? APR means Annual Percentage Rate.
 18. Compute the number of ways there are to select three distinct lattice points in three-dimensional space such that the
three points are collinear and no point has a coordinate with absolute value exceeding 1.

II. HYDRAULICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

1. From the figure shown is a tube which is close at point C and contains water as shown in the shaded portion. With this
speed find the point along BC (Point E) where the pressure is the smallest.

2. Calculate the effective stress for a soil element at depth 5 m in a uniform deposit of soil, as shown in the figure.
Assume that the pore air pressure is zero.

3. A consolidated drained triaxial test was conducted on a normally consolidated clay. The results are as follows:

'3 = 276 kPa (d)f = 276 kPa

Determine the normal stress .

4. What method of wastewater treatment method that involves removal of settleable solids and thickening of sludge?

5. A saturated soil sample weighing 178 g has a volume of 96 cc. If G = 2.67, determine the void ratio.

6. A valve is suddenly closed in a 200 mm pipe. The increase in pressure is 700 kPa. Assuming that the pipe is rigid
and the bulk modulus of water is 2.07 x 10^9 N/m^2. Compute the velocity of the flow.

7. An object weighs 7 N in water and 8 N in an alcohol (s = 0.80). Find the weight of the object.

8. A 10 m high retaining wall with a vertical back face has a c soil for backfill material. Properties of the backfill
material are as follows: = 19.1 kN/m^3 , c = 35.9 kN/m^2, and = 28. Considering the existence of the tensile
crack, determine the Rankine active force Pa per unit length of the wall.

9. What head H is needed in the figure to produce a discharge of 0.3 m^3/s? Use minor loss coefficients of 0.5 for the
entrance and 0.12 for the diffusers.
10. Determine the settlement of the group of bearing piles as shown in the figure.
 11. An aeration basin with vol of 400 m^3 contains a mixed liquor (aerating activated sludge) with suspended solids
concentration of 2 g per liter. Find the weight of the mixed liquor suspended solids are in the tank.

12. Using Boussinesqs equation, the total weight of the footing, tank and its content is 1.60 MN. Find the pressure at the
base of the footing.

13. It is the square root of the ratio of inertia forces to compressibility forces.

14. The square foundation shown with e L = 0.3 m and eB = 0.15 m Determine the ultimate load assuming two way
eccentricity.

III. STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION

1. The plastic block shown is bonded to a rigid support and to a vertical plate to which a 240 kN load P is applied.
Knowing that for the plastic used G = 1050 MPa, determine the deflection of the plate.

2. A reinforced concrete beam has a width of 300 mm and effective to tension reinforcement of 618 mm. Compression
reinforcement if required will be placed at a depth of 60 mm. If fc = 30 MPa and fy = 410 MPa, find the number of
reinforced bars to be used. Use NSCP 2001.

3. For the stress state (in MPa) shown in the figure, the major principal stress is 10 MPa, find the shearing stress .

4. In Implementing Rules and Regulation on Government Procurement, awarding of contracts beyond the prescribed
period has a maximum imprisonment of _________.

5. A steel tank is to be positioned in an excavation. Knowing that the magnitude P = 500 lb, determine the corresponding
magnitude R.
6. A two continuous beam is to be designed using the plastic method of analysis. The first span AB is 6 m long and the
adjacent span BC is 4 m long. Both spans are loaded with a uniform load of 30 kN/m. The shorter span carries a
concentrated load of 60 kN at its center. Using the load factor of 1.7 and Fy = 250 MPa. Compute the plastic section
modulus required by the continuous beam.

7. The prestressed concrete T beam shown is to span 10 m and to be prestressed with tendons 100 mm from the bottom
of the beam at midspan. Find the ratio of effective prestressing force F to the total uniform load if the resulting moment
at midspan is zero.

8. What is the damping ratio of the typical buildings in seismic analysis for wood construction ?

9. A BW 775 x 287 steel I beam has the following dimensions:

H = 775 mm tw = 19 mm B = 360 mm tf = 32 mm
Find the moment of inertia Ix about the principal axis in x 10^6 mm^4.

10. A beam having the dimensions b = 250 mm and d = 400 mm with a span of 8 m. Steel covering is 60 mm from the
center of steel bars. Use fc = 211 kg/cm^2, fs = 1406 kg/cm^3 and n = 9. Determine the safe uniform load that the
beam could carry besides its own weight.

11. In paint failures and their remedies, it is the occurrence of moisture trapped in wood when exposed to heat.

12. The AAE of a certain highway project is P 15M. Refer to PD 1594:

Determine the amount at which an item becomes a major item.

13. The two wires are connected together at A. If the force P causes joint A to be displaced horizontally by 2 mm,
determine the normal strain developed at AC.

14. Determine the maximum shear on the frame CD shown in the figure.
15. The motion of the particle is defined by the realtion x = t^4 10t^2 + 8t + 12 , where x and t area expressed in inches
and seconds, respectively. Determine the position of the particle.

16. From the concrete mixture shown, the following data area recorded:
Cement: 34 bags at 40 kg each , sp gr = 3.15
Fine aggregates: 3000 kg on dry basis, sp gr = 2.67 and 2% absorption
Coarse aggregates: 6000 kg on dry basis, sp gr = 2.64 and 1.5% excess moisture.

Find the volume of yield concrete.

17. Determine the axial force AC on the indeterminate truss shown in the figure.

18. These steel shapes are produced by passing red hot blooms or billet steel through rolls until the desired shape is
attained.