Best products from r/civilengineering

I think you would enjoy "Building Construction Illustrated" by Francis D. K. Ching. Link here. Our office has a copy of this and it does a reasonable job of explaining "conventional framing." By that I mean the kind of layout and details that contractors are familiar with, less likely to complain about, and less likely to improperly install. I think it focuses more on timber framing. We rarely spec masonry but have to deal with it with existing structures; I think CERM's chapters on masonry are a good primer on that.

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Off the top of my head I don't know of any publicly available drawing and design calculation examples, but for low-rise structures you'll rarely see performance-based design unless it's a (well-funded) historic or institutional building. Lateral design will largely come out of ASCE 7-10, SDPWS, and TMS 402/602 and be copied into MS Excel. I've seen engineering calc packages from other firms and the visual/ functional quality is all over the place. I also saw an ASCE 7-10 wind design spreadsheet online last year if that helps. The International Residential Code (as adopted by California here) has some figures in there if you're interested in how prescriptive timber design looks. There are some figures in R602 and R606 that set the baseline for timber and masonry construction, respectively.

I learned Mathcad in grad school and wish I had learned about it earlier. I love it. I bought Essential Mathcad new and it comes with a disc and license. The book is straight forward and the program is easy enough. Do the examples in the book and learn the hotkeys for symbols and operators.

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If I ever have to submit calculations I do so using Mathcad. The program does a good job swapping between text and calculations. So including paragraphs of text into a calc sheet is streamlined. If I'm doing calcs for internal use, I stick to our home brew excel calcs. Another thing that helps is to create a template with the right font type and size, set margins, headers/footers, logos etc. That way you can start a project off similarly each time.

I think, well, are you getting interviews?

Your post, you just seem really down on yourself. Once you get one person to trust in you, to trust in your ability, that's what it takes to establish your career. It'll work for you once you trust in yourself and project confidence. I think one of the things, I got my start with a really small company (10 employees) and the post was on craigslist in a different state and I had no internship since I was a transfer student. I had to be adaptable. I remember after that position, I wasn't even in school and went to a different university's job fair and got an interview with the army corps as a result. If you think your cover letter isn't working, that's a fantastic way to meet recruiters face-to-face. It was kinda just trying anything and having perseverance.

Read that unwritten laws of engineering. I think it's a good thing to read about starting out. Don't think a job is below you. I'm out in the field right now struggling with transportation contractors. But it's been fantastic experience.

I am a current Junior in Civil Engineering, and I recently went and upgraded my senior year of HS/Freshman year of college computer to this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was a laptop I chose for a multitude of reasons: high performance, low cost, easy to upgrade (Youtube links on this laptop specifically detailing how to upgrade compliment the manufacturers on how well-thought-out the design was), good battery life (this is on the low/middle gaming laptop spectrum, and because of this has good battery life), and overall nice looking design. For me I needed a laptop that could run the graphic intensive software that Civil Engineering students use in their upper division classes, while also being able to game on it - in college, from my experience, computer gaming is the most popular. All of the links below are upgrades that go with the laptop well. They are not needed but, they are helpful and relatively cheap. If you have any questions feel free to ask by PM.

RAM upgrade:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG8X9Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TGIVZTW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cooling fan (optional):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNMB3KS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I took these exams back in October '15 (along with the PE) and passed all of them.

For me the Hiner course was a lifesaver for the seismic portion. I had zero experience with the content in the seismic exam but Hiner's course had me very well prepared for the exam.

Survey exam was far easier in my opinion. Just grab a practice problem book and brush up on whatever is rusty. FYI: the Cuomo Surveying Principles book goes into way more detail than the exam does.

Good luck!

I'm pretty sure these three books were what I used in my water engineering classes. They should help you out. Amazon has some pretty good textbooks, too, and there are plenty of places online to find a pdf version of textbooks, though I always got those from classmates so I can't help you find them.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131409700/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Water-Wastewater-Engineering-Mackenzie-Davis/dp/0071713840

https://www.amazon.com/Hydraulic-Engineering-2e-John-Roberson/dp/0471124664?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1#reader_0471124664

I took the Structures focus for the PE exam, I can't recommend for you an exact prep schedule, but I can tell you mine.

I studied for a total of 500 hours at 40hrs/wk took approximately 3 months or so. 200 hrs of prep for the PE exam itself and 150 hrs each for the Survey and Seismic portions.

I prepared using the CERM, PPI Sample problems, NCEES Sample Exams, and the following:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888577940/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591261007/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591263786/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Did I over do it? Without a doubt I over did it. But I can also say that I rolled up on the test, took a dump on its front lawn and lit it on fire. I also managed to finish so quickly that I took a bit of a nap during the NCEES exam. I was however working up to the last minute on the Survey and Seismic portions. Those sections weren't hard, you just need to manage your time well and you will be fine.

When you do walk into the exam, you will see people with half-pallet carts filled with reference materials. You will not need that many books, you only really need your CERM, applicable code manuals, as well as a rapid reference note binder that you compile yourself. I flew in to California to take it, and all my reference materials fit into a back pack and a carry on suitcase.

I also, took a review course offered at the local university, go to every class and never skip!

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions, best of luck!

I was one of the comments in the other thread.

I use a smaller hardbound book (~5x8) like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076BSSRTP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it to track notes, phone conversions and my daily activities or designs ideas. I would never use a large 8.5x11 hardbound book. Its just too big and bulky. I would definitely buy a smaller version like the one i linked, especially if it had the paper layout you plan to use and had a nice cover and bookmark/pencil holder.

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Also note that survey and field books already exist. They serve as a legal document too-

https://www.amazon.com/Elan-Publishing-Company-E64-4x4-Surveying/dp/B071LJ56GH/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1LHK4SCKNA3CG&keywords=survey+field+book&qid=1556205806&s=office-products&sprefix=survey%2Coffice-products%2C115&sr=1-6

Sounds like you're on the right path. Just work through some timed practice exams to gauge your current stats and find out what needs to improve like I said. If you can't trust yourself to stick to strict timing, tell a friend or family member to come and stop you in 4 hours for a break, then again after the 2nd part to keep yourself honest.

Colored tabs such as these were placed all over my books as i came across important equations in my books, and definitely made it easier to find what I already knew in a timely manner.

>There is no time for locking myself in my apartment, as badly as I want to.

I was being a little facetious with that line. When I took the exam, I studied for probably 6 months an average of about 4 hours a day (more on weekends, probably closer to 2 on week days).

Just look at this next month as the final push. Bust your ass this month, pass the test, and you won't have to do all this work over again in another 6 months ;)

This is a good text: https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Highway-Engineering-Enhanced-Nicholas/dp/1337631027/ref=dp_ob_title_bk. What I liked is a lost of stuff are concise and easy to find unlike the big HCM. But I will bring HCM to exam as well.

also this one: https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Highway-Engineering-Traffic-Analysis/dp/111938558X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=JQVW431A1I98&keywords=principles+of+highway+engineering+and+traffic+analysis+6th+edition&qid=1566861831&s=books&sprefix=principles+of+high%2Cstripbooks%2C158&sr=1-2

Yeah, need some fun books rather than dry textbooks. J. E. Gordon's books [1] [2] are my favourite :)

The six minute solutions books are the best IMHO.

Do not buy the Lindberg practice problems book. I repeat do not by the Lindberg practice probelms book.

I also really liked this book in the link below. There are four sample exams each increasing with difficulty. I found that the first test was generally easier than the exam, two and three were pretty dead on, and the forth generally harder than the exam.

Link

Also I will throw this book out there. This is not a practice problems book. This book will teach you how to study for the exam and the mindset you need to have while studying for the exam.

Link 2

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Water Resources Engineering - Larry W. Mays or Applied Hydrology - Te Chow for engineering hydrology. They are somewhat outdated in not including some new methods (like ML methods) but both solid for the fundamentals. There is also a PDF copy of the latter floating around if you do a google search.

Chow's Open-Channel Hydraulics book is also great (for channel and hydraulic structures design, non-pressurized), but mind numbing to go through. Also, Fluid Mechanics - Frank White for general fluid mechanics overview.

Finally, although I've not personally read/used it, HEC-22 is a design manual for urban drainage systems and Advanced Water Distribution Modeling and Management for modeling/design of water distribution systems.

I ordered PPI's structural depth practice exam. A friend of mine who passed used it and recommended it to me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591265533/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/AutoCAD-2019-Beginners-CADFolks/dp/1719344620

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Depending on which version you're using:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrfxjgFQt8

Yes absolutely.

I bought a few packs of these.

Use a fine-point black Sharpie marker and pick a color for each section. I did red-structural, yellow-transpo, green-geotech, orange-construction, blue-wr.

http://www.amazon.com/Surveying-Principles-Civil-Engineers-2nd/dp/1888577940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453821432&sr=1-1&keywords=Surveying+Principles+for+Civil+Engineers

Read the CERM cover to cover. Do the illustrated sample problems in each section. Tab that sucker. Find sample tests - take them every few weeks on a weekend morning at 8 am just like the test. Buy ear plugs, wear them when testing (no airbuds or music).

If you can swing it, buy a few practice problem books. I found this one very simple and helpful for the morning problems - Mike's Civil PE Exam Guide: Morning Session https://www.amazon.com/dp/1453716343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Wc0.zb2XHGVHB

Good Luck!