Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam [ハードカバー]

If you're reading these reviews undoubtedly you know what this is and why you need this for the Civil PE exam.

That said, as far as I can tell this is pretty much the only comprehensive reference available for the exam so rather than talk more about the CERM itself I wanted to break down some things that helped me use the manual to study and pass the PE exam the first time (water resources, spring 2011):

1) Download and print out a copy of the index for the CERM from the PPI website, bind it separately, and use that to look stuff up while studying and taking the exam to avoid constantly flipping around in the manual between the index and the chapters. Saves lots of time and aggravation working from multiple places in the CERM. I learned this from people in my review class and never would've thought of this on my own which is why I wanted to share it here.

2) For the most used equations, write the constants and such in the margins next to the equations. Highlight the equations to make them pop from the columns of text in the book. This did a few things for me: familiarize me again with the equations and constants, help me remember how to use the equations, and also save me time looking for constants in the back or whatever. I did this the month before my review class started, helped me find what's in the manual too before I got into the heavy duty working of problems during my review class for hours on end.

3) Tab everything possible. The exam is all about speed (~5 min/question...) so make sure you can find what you need real fast. I used a combination of heavy duty tabs with paper inserts and the sticky flags. I color coded the tabs by topic and tabbed my manual as follows: tabs across the top for tables of data (e.g. water demands per capita per day, wastewater production per capita per day, etc), tabs down the sides for specific topics/equations (e.g. shallow foundations, water hammer, that CM workflow diagram whose name escapes me right now, etc), tabs across the bottom for the reference tables in the back (e.g. head losses for specific fittings, moments of inertia for generic shapes, the Ten State's regs, etc).

Seemed to work real well, I probably had a few too many flags/tabs but I only needed to use the index to find something a few times during the exam so I guess I did okay there. I left all my tabs and flags in the CERM after finding out I passed since it makes the book look real salty and reminds me of the pain I went through studying and taking the exam.

Bottom line here: Know what's in the book and where to find it. The morning exam was pretty much straight out of the CERM and my review class, quite literally 95% of the questions were pure muscle memory from using the CERM to study. The PM exam was the similar but about 25% of the questions couldn't be answered out of the CERM and needed an outside reference (master's level stuff in my opinion and I don't have an MSCE so I just did what I could and guessed the rest).

4) Use the CERM as much as possible while studying. I know this sounds obvious but I first attempted studying with stacks of textbooks from engineering school in addition to my CERM and quickly realized it would never work. You need to become as familiar as possible with the CERM if you want a ghost of a chance of passing, and you'll be amazed what's in there if you look. Also, you will not have time to flip around between 20 books during the exam so just get used to using the CERM as much as possible while studying. Heck, sleep with your CERM if you have to and take it with you to lunch. Remember, there are many CERMs but this one is mine, without my CERM I am nothing, without me my CERM is a monitor stand.

For the exam, I only brought in my trusty marked up and tabbed CERM, my open channel hydraulics book, and my (undergrad) geotech book along with my notes and sample problems from my review class. I spent probably 80% of my time in the exam using the CERM, my other references were nearly useless save for some rando oddball questions I was able to find during my spare time to get some extra points. The CERM and a few other things were enough to get me through the WR exam and I am neither a water resources engineer by practice nor the kid from Good Will Hunting.

5) Take a review class if at all possible. I was fortunate to find one an hour away on Saturdays. It helped me get into the mode of studying a lot (I kept records and including 56 hours of class I spent about 250 hours preparing for the exam over about 3.5 months, did nothing the two weeks before the test due to burnout and a work trip during which I was not going to study in the hotel at night), helped me realize I wasn't the only one fighting my way through the pain and misery, and helped me learn enough to get by in areas that I had little to no college coursework on (e.g. transpo, econ, etc). The review was kinda costly but I figure I got off cheap passing the PE the first time.

This book is the best single item to have in one's library for study or practice.

I used it as my primary preparation for the PE in Colorado (Civil Engineering test with Structural emphasis), and though I had no background in roads, environmental engineering, or hydraulics (I did a B.S. in Architectural Engineering but did not want to take the ArchE PE test), I found the layout, sample problems (in the practice tests, sold separately), and the content to be perfect - I passed the PE easily with no additional time or money spent on classes. Being able to refer to the text quickly will allow you to answer half of the questions correctly in under 2 minutes each, leaving ample time for the more involved code questions (and of course you need to enter the test with every code book recommended on the list if you are a structural).

Later, as a practicing civil engineer in southern Africa, it was my most valuable reference, though around 2008 I started working in Eurocodes.

To EIT's now working in the US, I recommend purchasing the book well beforehand, so that familiarity is solid before the six month study crunch begins. To practicing engineers living abroad, it is solid reference with a thorough covering of topics and methods in United States engineering codes.

Recently took the Civil PE. This was the only book I took with me, and it was a great reference. It covered almost all of the questions.