Site civil engineering, structural design, and geotechnical engineering in one studio — stormwater and grading, steel/concrete/wood structural design per AISC/ACI/ASCE 7, foundation bearing capacity, slope stability, and soil classification. 30 calculators and 47 in-depth guides.
Peak stormwater runoff via Q = C·i·A with composite runoff coefficients by surface type.
Level-pool (storage-indication) routing showing inflow-to-outflow attenuation and peak reduction.
SCS Curve Number runoff and triangular unit hydrograph — peak flow and timing.
Composite curve number and runoff depth: Q = (P−0.2S)² / (P+0.8S).
Uniform flow velocity and capacity: V = (1.49/n)·R^⅔·S^½.
Manning normal depth, critical depth, and Froude-number flow regime in a trapezoidal channel.
Circular storm pipe capacity using Manning's equation, flowing full.
Earthwork balance from a grid of elevation pairs using the 4-corner average-end-area method.
Adjust the proposed grade plane to balance cut & fill and minimize import/export haul.
Simple circular curve tangent length, curve length, chord, and offsets.
Impervious percentage, floor area ratio, and lot coverage for site planning.
Percent slope, angle, and ratio conversions, including ADA compliance checks.
Presumptive bearing values and shallow footing sizing by soil type.
Simply supported beam reactions, shear, moment, and deflection under uniform and point loads.
Interactive shear and moment diagram builder for multi-load beam configurations.
Three-moment equation solver for 2-3 span continuous beams under uniform loads.
Euler critical buckling load, slenderness ratio KL/r, and AISC 360 design capacity φPn.
Singly reinforced concrete beam design moment capacity φMn, reinforcement ratio, and As.
ACI 318 exposure category max w/cm & min f'c lookup, target strength f'cr calculator, and ACI 211.1 mixing water reference.
AISC limit states for bolted connections: shear, bearing, tearout, net section, block shear.
Portal frame lateral drift and deflected shape under lateral loading.
Spread footing bearing pressure under uniform and eccentric loading, with kern check.
Unit shear, chord force, hold-down sizing, and APA nailing schedule for wood shear walls.
Flat and sloped roof snow loads per ASCE 7 with exposure, thermal, and importance factors.
ASCE 7 Components & Cladding wind pressure and net uplift fastener force.
Equivalent Lateral Force procedure for seismic base shear and story force distribution.
AISC W-shape section properties: area, moment of inertia, section modulus, radius of gyration.
Fillet weld shear capacity φRn using E70XX electrode strength and effective throat.
Interactive stress-strain curves for steel, concrete, aluminum, and wood with labeled elastic, yield, and fracture regions.
Field checklist for house, bridge, building, and retaining wall condition assessment with instant scoring.
Animated diagram tracing gravity, wind, and seismic load paths from roof to foundation.
Auto-draws a scaled single-story residential floor plan (SVG/PNG export) from footprint dimensions and a room layout template, with a joist span check and tributary-load estimate.
Immediate elastic settlement (granular) and consolidation settlement (cohesive) for shallow footings.
Rankine active earth pressure with overturning, sliding, and bearing pressure/eccentricity stability checks.
Unified Soil Classification System group symbol from gradation and Atterberg limits.
Terzaghi bearing capacity theory for shallow foundations, allowable bearing pressure.
Simplified Bishop method factor of safety for circular failure surfaces using method of slices.
12-section interactive reference covering site grading, Rational Method storm drainage, AASHTO pavement design, water/sewer utilities, surveying, traffic engineering, stormwater LID, NPDES permits, and site plan standards.
12-section interactive reference covering USCS soil classification, SPT/CPT site investigation, Terzaghi bearing capacity, deep foundations, slope stability, Rankine earth pressure retaining walls, ground improvement, and seismic liquefaction.
14-section interactive reference covering ASCE 7 load combinations, AISC 360 steel design, ACI 318 concrete design, AWC NDS wood design, seismic ELF method, wind loads, steel connections, and deflection limits.
43-section interactive guide covering foundation, framing, column/beam layout, wall sections, slabs, staircases, roof details, connections, and boundary walls, plus structural calculations and 24 full-size reference drawings.
18-section illustrated guide covering cantilever retaining walls, footing punching shear, drilled shafts, braced excavations, RC columns, cantilever balcony detailing, composite steel beams, roof trusses, steel connections, bridge pier seismic design, tunnel linings, curtain walls, and the gravity load path.
46-section illustrated guide to residential structural diagnostics and repair — gravity and lateral load paths, framing fundamentals, foundation bearing pressure, structural vs non-structural crack diagnosis, differential settlement, underpinning and pier retrofit, retaining walls, and seismic and fire damage assessment.
19-chapter illustrated guide following one residential retaining wall use case start to finish — topographic site evaluation, applied soil mechanics, geotechnical investigation, drainage as a structural consideration, wall-system selection, Rankine lateral earth pressure and stability checks, ACI 318-19 member design, construction sequencing, permitting, liability, cost, and maintenance.
10-section illustrated guide to the applied side of structural practice — steel-frame load paths and ASCE 7-22 combinations, a field misfabrication and connection-repair case study, anchor bolt and shear-stud embedment design, a seismic retrofit case study of a masonry school, and a steel/concrete/timber/masonry material-selection comparison.
10-chapter cross-discipline code reference covering how the IBC, NEC, ASCE 7, and NFPA fire codes coordinate as one system, IBC occupancy classification and fire separation, ASCE 7 structural loads and material codes, real reinforced-concrete and medium-voltage-switchgear reference drawings, and codes across civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, aerospace, and interdisciplinary engineering.
27-section illustrated guide following one case-study house from lot selection to move-in — zoning and site analysis, floor plans and exterior architecture, structural load path, MEP systems design, permitting and materials, step-by-step construction, and warranty/maintenance — paired with real civil, floor/basement, elevation/roof, HVAC, and plumbing drawing sheets.
37-section illustrated guide to reading and coordinating a full construction drawing set — architectural/structural/civil disciplines, floor and framing plans, elevations and sections, foundation systems and geotechnical distress, RC and steel detailing, gravity and lateral load paths, shear walls, and structural assessment/seismic retrofit — with 27 real reference drawings.
How a roof load actually gets to the ground — why tributary area (a load-distribution accounting method) and load path (the physical, unbroken chain a load must travel through) are two different ideas, illustrated with an interior-vs-edge-column plan view and a broken-connection elevation.
Why a slender column can suddenly bow sideways and fail at a load far below its material strength — Euler's formula, why effective length (not yield strength) controls it, and the difference between global column buckling and local flange/web buckling.
Why loose, saturated sand can turn to liquid during an earthquake — how rising pore water pressure drives effective stress toward zero, and why firm-looking ground at the surface doesn't mean a site is safe.
Why a beam can pass its strength (ULS) check with a comfortable margin and still sag, bounce, or crack under everyday loads — deflection and vibration limits are a separate design check, not an automatic byproduct of strength.
Why a swaying building's own weight creates an extra P×Δ overturning moment first-order analysis can't see — and how, in flexible enough structures, that effect can compound into a destabilizing feedback loop.
Why losing one member shouldn't bring down the whole building — how redundant load paths, key element design, and tie forces stop a single local failure from cascading into a progressive collapse.
Why codes never ask you to design for full wind and full seismic at once — wind is an external pressure that scales with exposed surface area, seismic is an internal inertial force (F = ma) that scales with mass, and ASCE 7 evaluates them in separate governing combinations.
Why ASD applies one blanket safety factor entirely on the material side, while LRFD splits calibrated margin across separate, load-type-specific factors and a strength-reduction factor φ — and why that split is exactly why modern codes shifted to LRFD as the primary method.
Why the same column can have two different 'areas' assigned to it for two different purposes — tributary area for gravity load, and the often-larger influence area that continuous framing requires specifically for live load reduction calculations.
Why a moment frame resists lateral load through rigid, moment-transferring beam-column joints with no diagonal bracing at all, while a braced frame resists it through a diagonal member in axial tension/compression — a real architectural-openness-vs-steel-efficiency tradeoff, not an upgrade path from one to the other.
Why a slab supported on all four edges isn't automatically two-way — it's the aspect ratio L/S that decides whether load spans almost entirely in one direction (L/S ≥ 2) or splits between both (L/S < 2), and why that split is what makes punching shear the governing check at columns in beamless flat plates.
Why the same lateral load can split 50/50 between two very differently-stiff shear walls, or funnel mostly into the stiffer one — a flexible diaphragm distributes by tributary area like a simple beam, while a rigid diaphragm distributes by relative stiffness and must also be checked for torsion.
Why post-tensioning isn't a rival to prestressing but one of its two methods — pretensioning stresses strand before the pour and transfers force by bond, while post-tensioning stresses a tendon after the concrete cures and transfers force through mechanical end anchorages.
Civil, structural, and geotechnical work is licensed through the Professional Engineer (PE) system, with structural adding the advanced SE exam and geotechnical adding a state GE authority in some states. Site/land-development professionals often add the Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) ladder, and engineering-geology work may call for a PG/CEG. This overview covers the FE, all five PE Civil depth exams, the 16-hour SE exam, the surveying ladder (FS → PS), the geotechnical GE authority, and the PG/CEG geology credential — what each covers and how they relate.
FE Civil prep: statics, structures, geotech, hydraulics, transportation, construction and surveying.
PE Civil prep across the five depth areas — Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources.
PE Civil: Structural prep: analysis, steel (AISC), concrete (ACI), wood/masonry, loads (ASCE 7) and foundations.
SE exam prep: the 16-hour Vertical + Lateral Forces components — steel, concrete, wood, masonry, seismic and wind.
PE Civil: Geotechnical prep: soil mechanics, shallow/deep foundations, slope stability, retaining walls and earthwork.
Geotechnical Engineer (GE) prep: the additional state authority (e.g., CA/OR) beyond the PE for geotechnical practice.
Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) prep: measurements & error, GNSS, boundary basics, cadastral and geodesy.
Principles & Practice of Surveying (PS) prep: boundary law, legal descriptions, plats, control surveys and ethics.
PG / CEG prep: engineering-geology licensure — geologic hazards, site characterization, rock/soil and groundwater.
CCM prep: the CMAA CM Standards of Practice — planning, cost, time, quality, contract administration, safety, ethics, technology and sustainability.
General Contractor License prep: codes & permits, contract law, scheduling, OSHA safety, estimating, subcontractor management, materials/methods, and lien/payment/bonding law.
Design and document real civil and structural projects from surveying and geotechnical investigation through concrete, steel, wood, and masonry design, wind and seismic loading, foundations, retaining walls, and stormwater — 17 core modules, 7 complete real-project design packages (residential foundation, steel warehouse, parking garage, retaining wall, commercial office, bridge approach, stormwater system), a 12-template documentation kit, and a certificate of completion. One-time $4.99 purchase, no account required.
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