PE Civil WRE Exam Guide 2026: 12 Domains and Study Plan
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A 20-ft-high temporary retaining wall holds dry sand with unit weight 120 pcf and friction angle 30 deg. Using Rankine active earth pressure, what is the total lateral force per foot of wall?
Pe Construction Soil Mechanics
Question · Medium
Where does this beam break first?
Short
Current 2026 PE Civil Water Resources and Environmental guide: 80 questions, 9-hour appointment, $400 NCEES fee, all 12 official content areas, supplied references, pass rates, and an adaptable study plan.
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Rankine active earth-pressure coefficient (Ka)
Soil Mechanics
Flashcard
A footing load is applied rapidly to saturated clay. Immediately after loading, which statement is most accurate?
Question · Easy
Progressive internal erosion by seepage that starts at a downstream exit point and works backward toward the reservoir, keeping open a roofed void.
Soil mechanics
Guess the Term
Chapter 1: Soil Mechanics
1.1 Lateral Earth Pressure
Study guide
Cheat sheet
A temporary slope has resisting forces of 150 kips and driving forces of 120 kips along a trial failure surface. What is the factor of safety against sliding?
Read the clue and guess the term in 6 tries.
Game
Rankine passive earth-pressure coefficient (Kp)
An overconsolidated clay layer has current effective overburden stress of 1.5 ksf and preconsolidation pressure of 3.0 ksf. A new foundation increases the final effective stress at the layer center to 3.8 ksf. Which settlement behavior is expected?
Question · Hard
Kind of water pressure: the u that is subtracted from total stress to leave the effective stress in a soil mass.
A benchmark has elevation 100.25 ft. A backsight of 5.40 ft and a foresight of 3.10 ft are taken. What is the elevation of the next point?
Pe Construction Site Layout Development
How deep before you need a trench box?
Effective stress principle (Terzaghi)
Using the arc definition of degree of curve, what is the approximate radius of a 4-deg simple circular curve?
Kind of stake, also called a side stake, set in pairs beyond the construction limits at each station and referenced to the baseline for horizontal and vertical control.
Site layout
1.2 Soil Consolidation and Settlement
Before crossing an existing gas line with a new storm drain, which field method best confirms the utility's exact location and depth?
Swap tiles to line up three of the same term.
Term Match
Factor of safety for slope stability
A benchmark has elevation 512.40 ft. The following readings are taken: backsight 4.35 ft on the benchmark, foresight 6.25 ft to turning point 1, backsight 3.80 ft on turning point 1, and foresight 4.90 ft to Point B. What is the elevation of Point B?
Fine soil that, with clay, makes up the fraction passing the No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve; under AASHTO, fines with a plasticity index of 10 or less are named after it.
Material properties
What is the primary purpose of entrained air in concrete exposed to freeze-thaw cycles and deicing salts?
Pe Construction Material Properties
OSHA fall heights, to scale
Height of Instrument (HI) in differential leveling
Site Layout & Development
Which change generally increases concrete compressive strength if consolidation and curing remain adequate?
Earned-value measure of the money spent for work completed; a value below 1.0 means the completed work consumed more money than planned.
Estimating and costs
1.3 Effective and Total Stresses
A structural steel member remains in the elastic range and experiences a strain of 0.0010. Using E = 29,000 ksi, what is the stress in the member?
Flip two cards at a time to find matching terms.
Term Pairs
Finding a new point's elevation from HI
A concrete mix requires 1,200 lb of fine aggregate in SSD condition. The sand has absorption of 1% and actual moisture content of 4%. Approximately what wet weight should be batched?
Kind of factor: the volume increase that excavated solid rock shows once it is placed in a fill, often 5 to 25 percent.
A fill requires 10,000 compacted cubic yards. If shrinkage from bank volume to compacted volume is 10%, how many bank cubic yards of borrow are needed?
Pe Construction Estimating Quantities Costs
Degree of curve (arc definition) and radius
A pipe crew installs 160 linear feet of pipe in an 8-hour day at a total daily direct cost of $4,800. What is the direct cost per linear foot?
Schedule recovery technique that adds resources to time-dependent activities so work finishes sooner, at the cost of more money and possible quality loss.
Project scheduling
1.4 Bearing Capacity
A project has earned value (EV) of $180,000 and actual cost (AC) of $225,000. What is the cost performance index (CPI)?
Find five hidden terms in a grid of letters.
Term Search
Purpose of potholing before excavation
An excavator can produce 180 BCY/hr. A haul quantity of 7,200 LCY must be removed. Swell is 25%, and job efficiency is 50 min/hr. Approximately how many 8-hour days of excavation are required?
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