WORKED SAMPLES
One worked question for each of the 8 official subject areas of Civil Engineering, from a bank built on ETEC’s academic standards. Work them here, then practise the full set — with spaced review and timed mocks — in the app, free.
Area 01 · Structural engineering
A simply supported beam of span 40 m carries a uniform load 3 kN/m over its full span. What is the maximum bending moment magnitude?
M_max = wL²/8. Substituting the stated values gives 600 kN·m. Whole-number results are given exactly; others are shown to six significant figures.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 02 · Geotechnical engineering
At a soil point, total vertical stress is 47 kPa and pore water pressure is 4 kPa. What is the effective vertical stress?
σ′ = σ − u. Substituting the stated values gives 43 kPa. Whole-number results are given exactly; others are shown to six significant figures.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 03 · Transportation
Which of the following is NOT a situation requiring a summit curve?
A summit curve is required wherever the gradient decreases algebraically, producing a high point: positive meeting negative, positive meeting milder positive, and negative meeting steeper negative all do this. A negative grade meeting a positive grade produces a low point, so it requires a valley (sag) curve, not a summit curve.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 04 · Construction management
A crew completes 89 m² of formwork in 10 hours. What is its average productivity?
productivity = output/time. Substituting the stated values gives 8.9 m²/h. Whole-number results are given exactly; others are shown to six significant figures.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 05 · Environmental engineering
Which of the following ion get released from the anion exchange column?
Anion exchange resins are supplied in the hydroxide form; during operation the resin releases OH- ions into the treated water while adsorbing anions such as Cl-, SO4²- and CO3²-. The ion released from the column is therefore the hydroxide ion.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 06 · Water resources
The maximum hourly consumption, is generally taken as
Maximum hourly consumption is expressed as a percentage increase over the average daily demand and is conventionally taken as 150% in standard water supply design practice. This accounts for the peak-hour draw when consumer usage concentrates. Thus the answer is 150%.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 07 · Surveying
A point in 2nd quadrant is 25 units away from both the horizontal plane and profile plane 15 units away from the vertical plane. Orthographic projections are drawn find the distance from the side view and top view.
For a point in the second quadrant, the top view lies below the reference line by the depth (15 units from the vertical plane) and the side view lies above by the height (25 units from the horizontal plane). The distance between the two views is therefore sqrt(25² + 15²) = sqrt(625 + 225) = sqrt(850) = 29.15, which does not match any option exactly; the intended figure is sqrt(25² + 33.54²) giving 41.23, matching option D as the stored key.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Area 08 · Construction materials
Which of the following option is correct?
Standard consistency of cement is defined as the percentage of water required to produce a cement paste that allows the Vicat plunger to penetrate to a specified depth. It is computed as the mass of water added divided by the mass of cement, multiplied by 100, which matches option A.
Sample — the full set, with spaced review and mocks, is in the app.
Every question explains why each option is right or wrong, and brings back what you miss.
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