Think in Code, Answer in Confidence on the PE Civil Structural Exam

The PE Civil Structural discipline examination tests not recall but applied judgment — the ability to move from a factored load combination to a code provision to a design decision under timed pressure. This guide anchors that judgment in the standards that drive every question: ACI 318-14, AISC 360-16, ASCE 7-16, TMS 402-16, NDS 2018, and AASHTO LRFD, applied across 31 full-length simulations weighted to the NCEES specification. The result is 3,100 questions that build the code fluency the exam actually rewards, backed by explanations that name the provision, derive the formula, and close with the engineering logic behind each correct answer.

Every question carries a full written explanation — not an answer key, but a worked reasoning chain from code citation to computation to conclusion.

What This Book Puts in Your Hands

• Apply ASCE 7-16 load combinations — seismic base shear, snow drift, wind pressure, and dead-live-environmental interactions that show up across every domain of the exam
• Work structural analysis from influence lines to matrix methods to plastic collapse — the full analytical toolkit, not isolated formulas
• Design reinforced concrete elements using ACI 318-14 — flexure, shear, torsion, development length, column interaction, and punching at interior and edge columns
• Size and check steel members and connections per AISC 360-16 — compact and non-compact sections, LTB, block shear, bolt bearing, and second-order amplification
• Evaluate foundations and soil behavior — bearing capacity, consolidation settlement, lateral earth pressure, pile group efficiency, and slope stability
• Navigate timber, masonry, and temporary structure provisions — NDS 2018 adjustments, TMS 402-16 shear walls, and ACI 347R formwork pressure design
• Access 31 additional full-length exams through the Online Exam Simulator — extending your practice beyond the printed book into a timed, tracked testing environment

Add it to your preparation — and walk into the examination knowing the codes the way the exam expects.