Civil Engineering

What the section holds

The largest section in the handbook. Geotechnical material including phase relationships, stress profiles, bearing capacity and retaining walls; structural analysis and the stability and determinacy rules; design loads to ASCE 7; reinforced concrete design to ACI 318 with its flexure, shear and column material; steel design to AISC 360 covering beams, columns and tension members; an environmental block; hydrology and water resources; transportation with vertical and horizontal curves and traffic flow; surveying formulas for latitudes and departures, earthwork and areas; and construction with earned value analysis.

Why it matters for your exam

Civil is the largest FE discipline by candidate volume, and this section is over fifty pages. Nobody navigates it well by scrolling.

How to navigate it

Learn the five internal neighbourhoods and their order: geotechnical, then structural, then water, then transportation, then surveying and construction. Note that the concrete design charts and the steel tables are the bulkiest parts and sit in the middle.

Search terms that land here

bearing capacity | ACI 318 | AISC | vertical curve | earned value

Subsections, in handbook order

These are the headings the handbook itself uses. The page number beside each is where it begins.

• Geotechnicalp259
• Structural Analysisp268
• Stability, Determinacy, and Classification of Structuresp271
• Structural Design Loads (ASCE 7-16)p272
• Design of Reinforced Concrete Components (ACI 318-14)p274
• Beams - Flexurep275
• Resistance Factors, φp275
• Beams - Shearp276
• Short Columnsp278
• Beamsp281
• Columnsp281
• Design of Steel Components (ANSI/AISC 360-16)p281
• Tension Membersp282
• Environmental Engineeringp290
• Hydrology/Water Resourcesp290
• Transportationp300
• Vertical Curvesp301
• Horizontal Curvesp302
• Traffic Flow Relationshipsp306
• Earthwork formulasp309
• Latitudes and Departuresp309
• Area formulasp310
• Constructionp310

Disciplines that use this section

• FE Civil