Alan Williams, PhD, SE, FICE, C Eng, is a registered professional engineer and structural engineer in California, a Fellow and Life Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom, and a member of the Structural Engineers Association of Southern California. He obtained his bachelor of science degree and doctorate from the University of Leeds in England. Dr. Williams has extensive experience teaching and practicing structural engineering, including designing and constructing bridges, schools, and industrial and commercial structures. He has worked as a senior engineer with the California Department of Transportation and as a Principal for Structural Safety with the California Division of the State Architect. Dr. Williams has published several textbooks and papers on structural engineering design, structural analysis, seismic design, and reinforced and prestressed concrete design.
IntroductionPART 1: HOW TO USE THIS BOOK This
Structural Engineering Reference Manual is intended to help you prepare for the 16-hour Structural Engineering (SE) exam administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). The NCEES SE exam will test your knowledge of structural principles by presenting problems that cover the design of an entire structure or portion of a structure. The exam is given in four modules—two concerning vertical forces and two concerning lateral forces. The eight chapters of this book are organized around the eight areas in which these forces are applied.
These eight areas include
- reinforced concrete design
- foundations and retaining structures
- prestressed concrete design
- structural steel design
- timber design
- reinforced masonry design
- lateral forces (wind and seismic)
- bridge design
Each chapter presents structural design principles that build on the ones before, so you should read the chapters in the order in which they are presented. The examples in each chapter should also be read in sequence. Taken together in this way, they constitute the solution to a complete design problem similar to that on the exam.
Your solutions to the SE exam problems must be based on the NCEES-adopted codes and design standards. Therefore, you should carefully review the appropriate sections of the exam-adopted design standards and codes that are presented, analyzed, and explained in each chapter of this book. Each of the examples in this
book focuses on one specific code principle and offer a clear interpretation of that principle.