BCE Bachelor of Civil Engineering 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which type of footing is most suitable when the soil bearing capacity is very low and individual footings would overlap?
- Raft foundation (Correct answer)
- Strip footing
- Pile foundation
- Isolated footing
Correct answer: Raft foundation
A raft (mat) foundation spreads the load over the entire building footprint, reducing bearing pressure when soil capacity is low.
Question 2: In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number is used to determine:
- Viscosity of the fluid
- Whether flow is laminar or turbulent (Correct answer)
- The buoyancy force on an object
- The hydrostatic pressure at depth
Correct answer: Whether flow is laminar or turbulent
The Reynolds number is a dimensionless ratio of inertial to viscous forces that predicts flow regime (laminar vs. turbulent).
Question 3: What does the term 'degree of consolidation' express in geotechnical engineering?
- The ratio of current settlement to total expected settlement (Correct answer)
- The compressive strength gain over time
- The factor of safety against bearing failure
- The percentage of clay minerals in soil
Correct answer: The ratio of current settlement to total expected settlement
Degree of consolidation (U) indicates how much of the ultimate consolidation settlement has occurred at a given time.
Question 4: In structural analysis, an 'indeterminate' structure is one where:
- The reactions cannot be calculated
- Equilibrium equations alone are insufficient to find all forces (Correct answer)
- The structure will collapse under any load
- Member forces are zero
Correct answer: Equilibrium equations alone are insufficient to find all forces
Statically indeterminate structures have more unknowns than available equilibrium equations, requiring compatibility conditions to solve.
Question 5: Which water treatment process removes dissolved salts from brackish water or seawater?
- Coagulation
- Sedimentation
- Reverse osmosis (Correct answer)
- Chlorination
Correct answer: Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis forces water through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure, rejecting dissolved salts and ions.
Question 6: The Marshall test in pavement engineering is primarily used to determine:
- Subgrade bearing capacity
- Optimum asphalt content and mix stability (Correct answer)
- Concrete compressive strength
- Aggregate gradation curve
Correct answer: Optimum asphalt content and mix stability
The Marshall test evaluates the stability and flow of asphalt concrete mixes to determine the optimal binder content.
Question 7: In highway design, superelevation is applied to a horizontal curve primarily to:
- Increase road friction coefficient
- Counteract centrifugal force on vehicles (Correct answer)
- Improve sight distance
- Reduce pavement thickness
Correct answer: Counteract centrifugal force on vehicles
Superelevation tilts the roadway cross-section so that a component of gravity helps counteract the outward centrifugal force acting on vehicles.
BCE Bachelor of Civil Engineering 2
Which type of footing is most suitable when the soil bearing capacity is very low and individual footings would overlap?