BE/B Eng Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Civil Engineering 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which type of foundation is most suitable for a heavy structure on soft, compressible soil where a firm stratum exists at great depth?
- Isolated footing
- Raft foundation
- Pile foundation (Correct answer)
- Strip footing
Correct answer: Pile foundation
Pile foundations transfer load to deep, competent soil or rock when shallow foundations cannot provide adequate support.
Question 2: In reinforced concrete design, what does the term 'balanced section' refer to?
- Equal areas of tension and compression steel
- A section where concrete crushes and steel yields simultaneously at failure (Correct answer)
- A beam with equal positive and negative moments
- A column with symmetric reinforcement
Correct answer: A section where concrete crushes and steel yields simultaneously at failure
A balanced section reaches its limiting compressive strain in concrete and tensile yield strain in steel at exactly the same time.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a weir in a water supply or irrigation system?
- To filter sediment from water
- To measure or regulate flow and raise the upstream water level (Correct answer)
- To remove dissolved salts from water
- To pump water to elevated storage tanks
Correct answer: To measure or regulate flow and raise the upstream water level
A weir is an overflow structure used to regulate water flow, measure discharge, and maintain upstream head.
Question 4: According to the AASHTO classification system, a soil classified as A-7 is best described as:
- Well-graded gravel
- Sandy soil with low plasticity
- Highly plastic clay — poor subgrade material (Correct answer)
- Silty sand with good drainage
Correct answer: Highly plastic clay — poor subgrade material
A-7 soils are highly plastic clays or silts considered poor subgrade materials due to high volume change with moisture.
Question 5: In structural analysis, the degree of static indeterminacy of a fixed-fixed beam is:
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3 (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 3
A fixed-fixed beam has three redundant reactions (one pin + two fixed ends provide six reactions, three equilibrium equations leave three redundants).
Question 6: Which water treatment process is specifically designed to remove dissolved iron and manganese from groundwater?
- Coagulation
- Aeration followed by filtration (Correct answer)
- Disinfection with chlorine
- Softening by lime addition
Correct answer: Aeration followed by filtration
Aeration oxidizes dissolved iron and manganese to insoluble forms that are then removed by sedimentation and filtration.
Question 7: What is the critical path in project scheduling (CPM)?
- The path with the most activities
- The shortest possible route through the network
- The sequence of activities with zero total float that determines project duration (Correct answer)
- The path with the highest cost activities
Correct answer: The sequence of activities with zero total float that determines project duration
The critical path has zero float, meaning any delay on it directly delays project completion.
BE/B Eng Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Civil Engineering 2
Which type of foundation is most suitable for a heavy structure on soft, compressible soil where a firm stratum exists at great depth?