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I learned Mathcad in grad school and wish I had learned about it earlier. I love it. I bought Essential Mathcad new and it comes with a disc and license. The book is straight forward and the program is easy enough. Do the examples in the book and learn the hotkeys for symbols and operators.

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If I ever have to submit calculations I do so using Mathcad. The program does a good job swapping between text and calculations. So including paragraphs of text into a calc sheet is streamlined. If I'm doing calcs for internal use, I stick to our home brew excel calcs. Another thing that helps is to create a template with the right font type and size, set margins, headers/footers, logos etc. That way you can start a project off similarly each time.

I took these exams back in October '15 (along with the PE) and passed all of them.

For me the Hiner course was a lifesaver for the seismic portion. I had zero experience with the content in the seismic exam but Hiner's course had me very well prepared for the exam.

Survey exam was far easier in my opinion. Just grab a practice problem book and brush up on whatever is rusty. FYI: the Cuomo Surveying Principles book goes into way more detail than the exam does.

Good luck!

I'm pretty sure these three books were what I used in my water engineering classes. They should help you out. Amazon has some pretty good textbooks, too, and there are plenty of places online to find a pdf version of textbooks, though I always got those from classmates so I can't help you find them.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131409700/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Water-Wastewater-Engineering-Mackenzie-Davis/dp/0071713840

https://www.amazon.com/Hydraulic-Engineering-2e-John-Roberson/dp/0471124664?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1#reader_0471124664

I took the Structures focus for the PE exam, I can't recommend for you an exact prep schedule, but I can tell you mine.

I studied for a total of 500 hours at 40hrs/wk took approximately 3 months or so. 200 hrs of prep for the PE exam itself and 150 hrs each for the Survey and Seismic portions.

I prepared using the CERM, PPI Sample problems, NCEES Sample Exams, and the following:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888577940/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591261007/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591263786/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Did I over do it? Without a doubt I over did it. But I can also say that I rolled up on the test, took a dump on its front lawn and lit it on fire. I also managed to finish so quickly that I took a bit of a nap during the NCEES exam. I was however working up to the last minute on the Survey and Seismic portions. Those sections weren't hard, you just need to manage your time well and you will be fine.

When you do walk into the exam, you will see people with half-pallet carts filled with reference materials. You will not need that many books, you only really need your CERM, applicable code manuals, as well as a rapid reference note binder that you compile yourself. I flew in to California to take it, and all my reference materials fit into a back pack and a carry on suitcase.

I also, took a review course offered at the local university, go to every class and never skip!

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions, best of luck!

Sounds like you're on the right path. Just work through some timed practice exams to gauge your current stats and find out what needs to improve like I said. If you can't trust yourself to stick to strict timing, tell a friend or family member to come and stop you in 4 hours for a break, then again after the 2nd part to keep yourself honest.

Colored tabs such as these were placed all over my books as i came across important equations in my books, and definitely made it easier to find what I already knew in a timely manner.

>There is no time for locking myself in my apartment, as badly as I want to.

I was being a little facetious with that line. When I took the exam, I studied for probably 6 months an average of about 4 hours a day (more on weekends, probably closer to 2 on week days).

Just look at this next month as the final push. Bust your ass this month, pass the test, and you won't have to do all this work over again in another 6 months ;)

The six minute solutions books are the best IMHO.

Do not buy the Lindberg practice problems book. I repeat do not by the Lindberg practice probelms book.

I also really liked this book in the link below. There are four sample exams each increasing with difficulty. I found that the first test was generally easier than the exam, two and three were pretty dead on, and the forth generally harder than the exam.

Link

Also I will throw this book out there. This is not a practice problems book. This book will teach you how to study for the exam and the mindset you need to have while studying for the exam.

Link 2

.

Water Resources Engineering - Larry W. Mays or Applied Hydrology - Te Chow for engineering hydrology. They are somewhat outdated in not including some new methods (like ML methods) but both solid for the fundamentals. There is also a PDF copy of the latter floating around if you do a google search.

Chow's Open-Channel Hydraulics book is also great (for channel and hydraulic structures design, non-pressurized), but mind numbing to go through. Also, Fluid Mechanics - Frank White for general fluid mechanics overview.

Finally, although I've not personally read/used it, HEC-22 is a design manual for urban drainage systems and Advanced Water Distribution Modeling and Management for modeling/design of water distribution systems.

For gloves I would recommend something more like these

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FGG489Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_glX7CbHNK9BGX

Don’t want them to be too hot. If they have specific requirements, they should be providing the gloves.

Well,

I'd suggest using Bowles' Foundation Analysis and Design [https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Analysis-Design-Joseph-Bowles/dp/0071188444]

or Codutos' "Foundation design: principles and practices"
[https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Design-Principles-Practices-3rd/dp/0133411893]


Hmm I can only testify for the first one as I own it and it's quite large and if you feel like reading +1000 pages to get a good grasp of foundation engineering, I'd go for that one.

Coduto's I haven't read, but I did read fully his geotech engineering: principles and practice. It's very light read, with examples and he talks about the main points. No formula derivations or any fancy mathematical work [which I don't mind in the sense that it's more about practical example that you can easily apply to your work, than doing theoretical models that in real life are too impractical and time consuming to be used.]

For the CERM I kept each chapter a different color (water - blue, geotech - orange, transportation - green, etc). Working through enough practice exams I got pretty quick identifying what I needed where. I tabbed anything that helped me while taking a practice exam. I'd tab on the side. You should buy Mike's practice exam. https://www.amazon.com/Mikes-Civil-PE-Exam-Guide/dp/1453716343

That'll give you a start for tabbing.

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Foundation-Engineering-Braja-Das/dp/0495668109

That book had a fairly good explanation, however it was more on the soil side. No rebar calcs or anything like that... It focuses more on bearing capacity of the wall

Hey, how did you end up liking the book? I'm thinking of getting it myself. Also did the book have practice problems, or did you find them elsewhere?

edit: What do you think of this book as well? It was suggested to me by a professor: http://www.amazon.com/Civil-Review-Manual-Michael-Lindeburg/dp/1591264391?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

The FE review manual (https://www.amazon.com/Civil-Review-Manual-Michael-Lindeburg/dp/1591264391/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483628512&sr=1-1&keywords=fe+civil+review+manual) has a decent basic review of RC design. Plus this is helpful if you plan on taking the FE at some point. I think reading through the RC sections will give you enough prep to better understand the more technical literature in the textbooks you have.

Yes absolutely.

I bought a few packs of these.

Use a fine-point black Sharpie marker and pick a color for each section. I did red-structural, yellow-transpo, green-geotech, orange-construction, blue-wr.

This is not a civil engineering book, but one of my favorite 'engineering' stories is "Skunkworks" about Lockheed's secret development division.
https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473165192&sr=1-1&keywords=skunkworks


Other than that I recommend:
"Traffic, Why we Drive the way we do"
https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Drive-What-Says-About/dp/0307277194
;

"Rust: The Longest War"
https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Longest-War-Jonathan-Waldman/dp/1451691602/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473165145&sr=1-1&keywords=rust

Amazon sells soil probes, not sure how shipping to Canada works because we're in the US. This is where we get the ones that we use at our office, and they work just fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Nupla-NC-PRB4T-Probe-Handle-Length/dp/B004UMJ960/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1494787426&sr=8-4-fkmr2&keywords=astm+soil+testing+probe

https://www.amazon.com/Land-Development-Handbook-Dewberry-Davis/dp/0071494375/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484057676&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=dewberry+land+develpoment

Pretty solid book. Not free but there may be additions floating around online.

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Foundation-Engineering-Braja-Das/dp/0495668109

http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Design-Principles-Practices-Edition/dp/0135897068/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415146021&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=foundation+design+cudotu

http://www.amazon.com/Surveying-Principles-Civil-Engineers-2nd/dp/1888577940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453821432&sr=1-1&keywords=Surveying+Principles+for+Civil+Engineers

R.C. Hibbeler

http://www.amazon.com/Estimating-Construction-Costs-Robert-Peurifoy/dp/0072435801/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1463016490&sr=8-10&keywords=peurifoy

Just need to change the link to .ca : https://www.amazon.ca/Nupla-NC-PRB4T-Probe-Handle-Length/dp/B004UMJ960/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1494787426&sr=8-4-fkmr2&keywords=astm+soil+testing+probe

Read the CERM cover to cover. Do the illustrated sample problems in each section. Tab that sucker. Find sample tests - take them every few weeks on a weekend morning at 8 am just like the test. Buy ear plugs, wear them when testing (no airbuds or music).

If you can swing it, buy a few practice problem books. I found this one very simple and helpful for the morning problems - Mike's Civil PE Exam Guide: Morning Session https://www.amazon.com/dp/1453716343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Wc0.zb2XHGVHB

Good Luck!

Have a look at/into:

• Structural Engineer's Pocket Book: Eurocodes
  
• Roark's formulas for stress and strain