Structural Design and Construction

Study lessons

1. 1

   Reinforced Concrete Design Under the NSCP 2015: Loads, Strength Design, and the Whitney Block

   Learn the NSCP 2015 load combinations, the strength design method with phi = 0.90, the Whitney stress block, and minimum steel and one-way shear checks, the computational backbone of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

   15 min
2. 2

   Structural Steel Basics and Construction Management for the CELE

   Cover structural steel tension and compression fundamentals, LRFD versus ASD, reinforcement detailing and serviceability, and construction estimating and CPM scheduling, the second half of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

   15 min
3. 3

   Reinforcement Detailing and Serviceability

   Master the NSCP 2015 rules for development length, lap splices, standard hooks, minimum and maximum flexural steel, minimum member thickness, concrete cover, bar spacing, and crack and deflection control, the detailing points that quietly decide many CELE Structural Engineering and Construction items.

   15 min
4. 4

   Reinforced Concrete Columns and Footings

   Learn how the NSCP 2015 sets the axial capacity of short tied and spiral columns, the axial-moment interaction diagram, column slenderness limits, and the design of isolated square footings for soil bearing, one-way (beam) shear, and two-way (punching) shear, a high-value block of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

   15 min
5. 5

   Structural Steel Design

   Work through the core steel limit states for the CELE, tension yielding, net-section rupture and block shear, compression and column slenderness, flexural strength with lateral-torsional buckling, web shear, and the LRFD versus ASD safety formats with a note on bolted and welded connections.

   15 min
6. 6

   Construction Management and Estimating

   Master CPM and PERT scheduling, activity float and project duration, crashing with the cost slope, the S-curve, and quantity takeoffs for concrete, reinforcing steel, formwork, and earthwork, the construction-management points in the Structural Engineering and Construction group of the CELE.

   15 min
7. 7

   Timber and Masonry Design Basics

   Learn timber allowable stress design with its adjustment factors and the bending, horizontal shear, and bearing checks, plus concrete hollow block masonry basics including allowable compressive and shear stress and the idea of reinforced masonry, all high-yield points in the Structural Engineering and Construction group of the CELE.

   15 min
8. 8

   Prestressed Concrete Design

   Learn how a prestress force precompresses concrete, the difference between pretensioning and post-tensioning, the elastic fiber stresses at transfer and at service, the immediate and time-dependent prestress losses, and the load-balancing method, a high-value block of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

   15 min
9. 9

   Two-Way Slabs and Flat Plates

   Learn how two-way slabs share load in both directions, how the Direct Design Method splits the total static moment Mo into column-strip and middle-strip design moments, how the NSCP 2015 sets minimum flat-plate thickness, and how to check punching (two-way) shear around a column, a high-yield block of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

   15 min
10. 10

    Steel Connections Design

    Design bolted steel connections for bearing, slip-critical, and combined shear-and-tension, size fillet and groove welds, check block shear tear-out, and lay out a simple bolted double-angle shear connection under NSCP 2015 and AISC.

    15 min
11. 11

    Reinforced Concrete Foundation and Wall Design

    Design continuous wall footings and combined footings, size a cantilever retaining wall stem and its base slab, and run the one-way and two-way shear and flexural reinforcement checks that set foundation thickness and steel under the NSCP 2015, a dependable block of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

    15 min
12. 12

    Seismic Design Basics (NSCP 2015)

    Read the seismic hazard from the zone and soil into the coefficients Ca and Cv, compute the NSCP 2015 static base shear V = Cs W with its period based value and its upper and lower limits, distribute that shear up the height as floor forces, then check story drift and ductile detailing, a steady source of Structural Engineering and Construction points on the CELE.

    15 min
13. 13

    Wind Load Design (NSCP 2015)

    Turn a basic wind speed into design pressures the CELE way, computing velocity pressure qz, reading the exposure coefficient Kz and gust-effect factor G in concept, and applying external and internal pressure coefficients to get the design wind pressures on windward and leeward walls, side walls, and roofs under the NSCP 2015 Directional Procedure.

    15 min
14. 14

    Composite Steel-Concrete Design

    Learn how a steel beam and a concrete slab tied together by shear studs act as one member, how to find the effective slab width, where the plastic neutral axis falls, how to compute the composite moment capacity, and how many shear connectors the interface needs, a fast-scoring block of the Structural Engineering and Construction group on the CELE.

    15 min
15. 15

    Bridge Engineering Basics

    Get the bridge fundamentals the CELE tests, the superstructure and substructure parts and the common bridge types, how dead load and the moving design truck with its impact factor are applied, how live load is distributed to the girders, and how influence lines pin down the largest moment a moving load can produce.

    15 min
16. 16

    Shear and Torsion Design of RC Beams

    Apply the NSCP 2015 shear design chain phi Vn >= Vu with Vc for normal-weight concrete and Vs from stirrups, size stirrup spacing, enforce maximum spacing and minimum shear reinforcement, and screen when torsion must be designed, a fast repeatable source of Structural Engineering and Construction points on the CELE.

    15 min
17. 17

    Development Length and Bar Splices

    Work the NSCP 2015 rules for tension development length of deformed bars, the psi factors for bar size, epoxy coating and top-bar casting position, hooked-bar development, compression development length, and Class A and Class B tension lap splices, with worked numbers a CELE Structural Engineering and Construction item can ask for directly.

    15 min
18. 18

    Slender Columns and Slenderness Effects

    A deep dive into column slenderness for the NSCP 2015 CELE, covering the slenderness ratio k lu / r, the effective length factor k for braced and unbraced frames, the radius of gyration of rectangular sections, the limits that let you treat a column as short, and the moment magnification method that turns a first-order moment M2 into the design moment Mc of a slender column.

    15 min
19. 19

    Steel Base Plates and Anchorage

    Design steel column base plates and their anchorage under NSCP 2015 and AISC, from concrete bearing strength (0.85 f'c) and required plate area, to plate thickness from the m and n cantilever bending, to anchor rods for uplift and shear, with worked numbers a CELE Structural Engineering and Construction item can ask for directly.

    15 min
20. 20

    Deflection and Crack Control of RC

    Compute the cracking moment Mcr from the modulus of rupture, build the effective moment of inertia Ie with Branson's equation, get immediate deflection from Ec and Ie, scale it for sustained load with lambda_delta = xi / (1 + 50 rho'), meet minimum thickness to skip the check, and cap bar spacing for crack control, a dependable band of NSCP 2015 serviceability points on the CELE.

    15 min
21. 21

    Continuous Beams and Moment Redistribution

    Use the NSCP 2015 ACI approximate moment and shear coefficients to find negative and positive design moments of a continuous beam, know when the coefficients apply, build the moment envelope from pattern loading, and apply the moment redistribution limit of 1000 epsilon_t percent capped at 20 percent, a dependable source of Structural Engineering and Construction points on the CELE.

    15 min
22. 22

    Steel Plate Girders

    Design welded steel plate girders for the CELE, from web slenderness classification and proportioning limits, through flange sizing by the flange-force couple, to web shear strength with the Cv coefficient, an overview of tension field action, and the bearing and intermediate stiffeners that let a deep slender web carry load.

    15 min
23. 23

    Diaphragms and Lateral Force-Resisting Systems

    Treat the floor or roof diaphragm as a deep horizontal beam that gathers wind and seismic force at each level and hands it to the shear walls and frames, with the slab as the web taking shear, the boundary chords as the flanges taking tension and compression, and collectors dragging the shear into walls that do not run the full depth, then split the story shear to the vertical elements by tributary area for a flexible diaphragm or by relative stiffness for a rigid one, a dependable Structural Engineering and Construction topic on the CELE.

    15 min
24. 24

    Cantilever Retaining Wall Design

    Size and check a cantilever reinforced concrete retaining wall for global stability, computing the Rankine active thrust, the factor of safety against overturning about the toe and against base sliding, the trapezoidal bearing pressure under the base from the resultant eccentricity and the middle-third rule, then reinforce the stem, toe, and heel, a dependable Structural Engineering and Construction topic on the CELE.

    15 min
25. 25

    Combined Footings and Mat Design

    Proportion combined rectangular and trapezoidal footings by locating the resultant of two column loads so the soil bears uniformly, handle the property-line constraint that rules out a concentric isolated footing, size a strap (cantilever) footing from equilibrium, and find the trapezoidal bearing pressure under a rigid mat carrying a biaxial eccentricity, a recurring Structural Engineering and Construction topic on the CELE.

    15 min
26. 26

    Steel Tension Members and Block Shear

    Master the three tension member limit states for the CELE, gross-section yielding with Pn = Fy Ag, net-section rupture with Pn = Fu Ae, net area with staggered holes and the s^2/4g rule, the shear lag factor U and the effective net area, block shear rupture on the shear and tension planes, plus tension member slenderness and the LRFD versus ASD formats.

    15 min
27. 27

    Seismic Base Shear and Lateral Analysis

    Run the NSCP static (equivalent) lateral force procedure end to end, turning the seismic hazard coefficients Ca and Cv into a seismic response coefficient Cs, computing the design base shear V = Cs W on the seismic weight with its period based value and its upper and lower bounds set by the response modification factor R, then distributing V up the height into story forces (with a roof force Ft), summing them into story shears, and closing with the inelastic story drift check, a reliable Structural Engineering and Construction earner on the CELE.

    15 min

Section practice test

35 test sets covering the whole Structural Design and Construction section, 1050 original questions with explanations. After you finish the lessons above, prove it here. Randomized every run.