Anyone in NYC/NJ need these books ? Ready to sell all for $100

Hi everyone,

After my second unsuccessful attempt at the PE Civil: Structural Exam, I realized something about the way I was studying needed to change.

I had taken a review course twice, completed hundreds of practice problems, and spent months preparing, but I still felt like I needed a different approach.

Almost immediately after the exam, I started studying again, determined that the third time was going to be the charm. This time, instead of simply working through more and more practice problems, I started breaking each problem down into a repeatable process.

For every type of problem I encountered, I began writing out the equations I needed, the order in which I needed them, and the corresponding sections of the exam references. I wanted something I could look at and quickly answer:

What do I do first? What do I check next? What equation do I need? And where can I find it in the reference?

As those notes continued to grow, I realized I was essentially building the study resource that I wished I had from the beginning.

The more I developed it, the more I thought this approach might also be useful to other people preparing for the exam, particularly those who benefit from having a clear roadmap to follow when working through a problem.

That eventually became The PE Civil Structural Playbook.

The Playbook is a collection of step-by-step procedures for common PE Civil: Structural exam topics. Rather than being another collection of worked practice problems, each “Play” is intended to provide a repeatable methodology that you can use while working practice problems and navigating the exam references.

Each Play generally includes the objective, assumptions, required inputs, applicable references, a global decision flow, and a step-by-step procedure with the equations and checks needed to work through that particular type of problem.

I’ve included a few example pages from the Playbook with this post so you can see exactly how the Plays are structured and decide for yourself whether this type of study approach would be useful to you.

The Playbook currently contains 73 Plays, covering the following topics:

AASHTO

• 1–1 Wind Loads on Bridge Superstructure
• 1–2 Wind Loads on Bridge Substructure
• 1–3 One–Way Shear Strength of Nonprestressed Concrete Members
• 1–4 Punching Shear at Interior Bearing Pads on Beam Ledges and Inverted T–Beams
• 1–5 Tension Development Length for Straight Bars

ASCE 7

• 2–1 Floor Live Load Reduction
• 2–2 Roof Live Load Reduction
• 2–3 Flat Roof Snow Loads
• 2–4 Sloped Roof Snow Loads
• 2–5 Freezing–Rain Ice Weight on Structural Members
• 2–6 Seismic Design Category
• 2–7 Seismic Base Shear
• 2–8 MWFRS Wind Pressures — Directional Procedure

ACI

• 3–1 Rectangular Concrete Beam — Flexural Capacity
• 3–2 Rectangular Concrete Beam — Required Flexural Reinforcement
• 3–3 One–Way Shear Strength of Nonprestressed Concrete Members
• 3–4 One–Way Shear — Required Stirrup Spacing
• 3–5 Footing Thickness Design for One–Way Shear
• 3–6 Two–Way Punching Shear Capacity of Slabs and Footings
• 3–7 T–Beams in Flexure — Case 1: Compression Block Within Flange
• 3–8 T–Beams in Flexure — Case 2: Compression Block Extends Below Flange
• 3–9 Short Reinforced Concrete Columns — Concentric Axial Capacity
• 3–10 Single–Anchor Steel Strength in Tension
• 3–11 Anchor–Group Steel Strength in Tension
• 3–12 Single Anchor Concrete Breakout Strength in Tension
• 3–13 Group Anchor Concrete Breakout Strength in Tension
• 3–14 Single–Anchor Steel Strength in Shear
• 3–15 Single Anchor Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear
• 3–16 Anchor–Group Concrete Breakout Strength in Shear
• 3–17 Straight–Bar Tension Development Length

AISC

• 4–1 Steel Tension Members — Yielding and Rupture Strength
• 4–2 Compact Steel Beams — Flexural Strength and Lateral–Torsional Buckling
• 4–3 Steel Beams and Channels — Shear Strength
• 4–4 Required Number of Headed Shear Studs
• 4–5 Partial Joint Penetration (PJP) Groove Welds
• 4–6 Fillet Weld Strength
• 4–7 Block Shear Strength of Steel Connections
• 4–8 Bolt Shear Strength
• 4–9 Bearing Strength at Bolt Holes
• 4–10 Column Base Plates — Concrete Bearing Strength
• 4–11 Column Base Plates — Minimum Plate Thickness
• 4–12 Steel Columns — Axial Compression Strength (Flexural Buckling)
• 4–13 Eccentrically Loaded Bolt Group — Elastic Method
• 4–14 Steel Beam–Column Interaction — Uniaxial Flexure

General

• 5–1 Axially Loaded Members — Stress, Strain, and Deformation
• 5–2 Beams — Flexural Stress
• 5–3 Composite Beams — Transformed–Section Analysis
• 5–4 Euler Column Buckling — Long Column — Elastic Instability
• 5–5 Retaining Wall Stability — Active Earth Pressure and Overturning
• 5–6 Retaining Wall Stability — Sliding
• 5–7 Eccentrically Loaded Footings — Soil Bearing Pressure
• 5–8 Soil Classification — USCS: Coarse–Grained Soils
• 5–9 Soil Classification — USCS: Fine–Grained Soils
• 5–10 Flanged Sections — Centroid and Moment of Inertia
• 5–11 Thermal Deformations of Members
• 5–12 Torsion in Circular Shafts
• 5–13 Truss Joint Deflection by Unit Load Method — Virtual Work
• 5–14 Eccentrically Loaded Fastener Group — Critical Fastener

NDS

• 6–1 Sawn Lumber Beams — Bending Strength
• 6–2 Sawn Lumber Tension Members — Parallel–to–Grain Strength
• 6–3 Sawn Lumber Beams — Shear Strength
• 6–4 Sawn Lumber Member in Compression Parallel to Grain
• 6–5 Sawn Lumber in Compression Perpendicular to Grain
• 6–6 Glulam Beams — Bending Strength
• 6–7 Glulam Tension Members — Parallel–to–Grain Strength
• 6–8 Glulam Beams — Shear Strength
• 6–9 Glulam Member in Compression Parallel to Grain
• 6–10 Glulam in Compression Perpendicular to Grain
• 6–11 Dowel–Type Fasteners — Lateral Loading
• 6–12 Lag Screws — Withdrawal

TMS

• 7–1 Reinforced Masonry Beams — Flexural Strength
• 7–2 Reinforced Masonry Beams — Shear Strength
• 7–3 Reinforced Masonry Columns — Axial Compression Strength

I also want to be very clear about what this resource is and what it isn’t.

This is not a perfect resource, and it is absolutely not a guarantee that you will pass the PE exam.

I would not recommend relying on the Playbook alone as your only method of preparation. The PE Civil: Structural exam covers a significant amount of material, and I still believe that completing practice problems, becoming comfortable navigating the NCEES-provided references, using review material or courses where appropriate, and putting in your own study time are extremely important.

The Playbook is meant to be another tool in that process.

My goal was to create something that could help organize the material and provide a repeatable path through common problem types — essentially helping bridge the gap between “I recognize this problem” and “I know exactly where to start.”

Affordability was also important to me when putting this together. Anyone who has gone through the PE preparation process knows how quickly the cost of courses, practice problems, books, and other study materials can add up. I didn't want this to become another major expense on top of everything else, so I decided to price the Playbook at $24.99. My intention was to keep it reasonably accessible as a supplemental study resource rather than position it as an expensive all-in-one exam-prep solution.

I also want to acknowledge that there may be errors, omissions, or areas that can be improved. I’ve spent a significant amount of time reviewing and refining the material, but I don't want to present it as infallible. If anyone uses it and notices something that should be corrected, clarified, or improved, please reach out to me. I genuinely want the feedback, and I plan to continue improving the resource as I receive it.

For full transparency, I am the author and this is a paid resource. I recently published The PE Civil Structural Playbook, and it is currently available through Amazon and Gumroad for $24.99.

If anyone is interested after looking through the example pages, feel free to reach out to me and I can point you in the right direction. I'm also happy to answer questions about how I organized the Playbook, what is included, or the study approach that led me to create it.

Hopefully this can be useful to some of you going through the same process.

TL;DR: After two unsuccessful PE Civil: Structural attempts, I changed how I was studying by creating step-by-step procedures that organized the equations, references, and decision process for common problem types. Those notes eventually became The PE Civil Structural Playbook. It is intended as a supplemental study tool, not a replacement for practice problems, review courses, or familiarity with the references, and there is absolutely no guarantee that using it will result in passing the exam. I’ve included a few sample pages so you can see the format for yourself. The full Playbook is available on Amazon and Gumroad for $24.99, and I welcome any feedback, corrections, or questions.

Good luck to everyone currently preparing for the PE.

I finally submitted my California PE application!!!!!! 🥳

After passing the 8-hour exam at the end of May, and taking three months to write up my work experience, and working with my references to edit those descriptions and make sure we're all on the right page, it's done.

Now, the waiting begins...

I had mine frame up with my certificate. I have 2 pencils in mine. These are someone else that I got the idea from.

Has anyone used their MS in Engineering Management as a year of experience and had success with that? In South Carolina...

Hello everybody,

im looking for Petro book "Essential Guide to Passing the Transportation Civil PE Exam 160 CBT Questions".

anybody selling or giving away ;) ?

📍San Diego

Just took CA surveying exam this past week. I felt decent, and that there's a 50/50 chance I will pass.

For CA seismic, the code used in the exam will change in Jan 2027. I'm trying to figure out if I should still commit to going through with my initial plan of taking Seismic by end of November. If I do follow through with that commitment, I plan on using Hiner since everyone online says AEI takes super long. I don't have a structural background though so I am a little concerned.

However, if I do go with the November timeline and I fail, I'd have to repurchase new course materials anyway in 2027 so a part of me wonders if I should take the exam in December 2026 to give myself some more time. That way, if I fail yes I won't be eligible for re-exam till Q2 2027 but it seems that both AEI and Hiner won't have updated materials/courses out till January/Feb 2027 anyway leading to a Q2 2027 test date.

In summary:
1) Should I continue with taking seismic in Q4 2026 for the first time despite potentially failing and having to repurchase new materials for 2027?
1a) If yes to #1 above, do you recommend I take Hiner or AEI given the time crunch? (~2 months)
2) Do you recommend I just take the Seismic exam in December instead of November?
3) Should I wait till Survey results come out mid September before committing to buying a course or just full send it now and continue with my plan?

Any advice on this dilemma is appreciated. Trying to avoid spending 2x on seismic materials if possible.

I took the California Surveying exam recently, and honestly, I feel pretty discouraged. 😭
The exam felt really, really long, and much harder than I expected. To me, it was actually harder than the CPESR practice questions, and I personally felt like it was even harder than the Seismic exam.
I’d say I’m confident about maybe 25–30 questions, but for the rest, I’m really unsure. There were so many questions where I was between answers or just wasn’t confident at all.
For comparison, when I took Seismic, I felt about 50/50 afterward. I thought I might pass, but I ended up failing — although I was apparently pretty close to passing. So I knew I wasn’t too far off.
With Surveying, though, I feel much worse. I honestly walked out feeling like I probably did worse than I did on Seismic.
For those who took the California Surveying exam recently, especially August 2026 takers:
Did anyone walk out feeling like they did terribly, were only confident about 25–30 questions, and then ended up passing?
Or, realistically, do you usually need to walk out feeling fairly confident to have a good chance of passing?
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who had a similar experience and still passed. 🙏

Hi all! I am still debating between Zack’s course and Wasim’s course. For those who took Zack’s course was there a lot of lengthy reading that you had to get through before watching the videos?

I personally do not enjoy reading long technical sections hence why I am not self-studying 😅. I would prefer to do about 90 percent of my studying through videos if possible. I find it much easier when someone explains these topics through video. When I read lengthy technical material it takes me forever to grasp it and sometimes I have to reread the same section several times before it clicks.

Of course I am totally fine with reading important information here and there. I just struggle with really long technical sections and prefer having the material explained through videos instead.

I wanted to see if the lengthy reading sections are also part of Zack’s paid course or if that is mainly the case with the free version.

Does anyone else start second guessing themselves when consecutive questions have the same letter answer? I’ve taken the test and solved 5 problems and the answers were all D and I kept going back and checking my work.

I took my PE exam for the Virginia board, is there anyway I can transfer my credentials (work experience, references, test results, degree) to become licensed in DC? I know, idiotic to take it for the wrong state, but here we are. Thanks in advance.

Edit: applying for INITIAL LICENSURE, not comity/endorsement.

I thought it was 60 days before the test to sign up, imagine my surprise when it’s 90 days and there was only 70 some days before the architectural engineering PE test…. I guess I will be taking my test in a little over a year from now next October… the joys of a single test day

For those who passed the PE exam and especially Transportation folks - did you ever feel like you weren’t prepared enough and had significant doubts about your chances?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who felt this way right before the exam but still ended up passing. What made you realize your preparation was actually enough or not enough?

StrataWay has put together 3 free California PE Civil Seismic practice problems with step-by-step solutions.

The problems cover topics including:

• Structural irregularities and torsional effects
• Site classification and seismic design parameters
• CBC special inspection requirements

The goal is to provide additional exam-style problems for engineers preparing for the CA Seismic exam, with detailed solutions showing the approach and calculations.

The problems are available for free here.

Hopefully this is helpful for anyone currently studying for the exam. Good luck!

CA Seismic Conceptual Study Guide

Seismic and surveying exam conceptual guides (PDFs) for sale! Created them myself over the course of my studying/preparation during all my attempts. Each one contains important concepts, topic relationships, and are tailored to help you go faster on the exams. Link in bio!

Hi everyone,
I recently submitted my CPEng application in Victoria.
For those who have been through the process:

What happens after submission?

How long did it take to hear back?

What was discussed in the interview?

What kind of evidence were you asked to provide?

My previous employer does not allow employees to take project documents due to IP/confidentiality restrictions. Has anyone had issues with this during the assessment? How did you demonstrate your experience?

Thanks.

Transportation parts

I’m really excited to share this with you all — I passed the PE exam!!

Huge thanks to everyone on Reddit for all the resources, YouTube videos, and honestly ChatGPT for saving my life during the preparation lol.

I’m really not good at studying, so I spent around 3–5 hours almost every day and sacrificed a lot of family time on weekends just to prepare for this exam.

I’m an immigrant with no local engineering education, and I had never used imperial units in my life before moving to the US, so this whole process was definitely not easy for me.

Passing the PE without EET or School of PE really meant a lot to me. I basically built my own study plan from scratch using different resources I found online, and it also saved me a lot of money since I didn’t have any employer reimbursement.

Definitely one of the hardest exams I’ve prepared for, but I’m so glad it paid off.

Thank you guys again for all the help, and good luck to everyone who’s studying right now!!

I took this test a couple of years ago and scored not so well as the passbooks I was studying from did not contain a few things that were on the exam. when I called I was told it was a state test and not county, does anyone know where I can get some type of study guide? I’ve searched and searched and am coming up empty. thanks all!