Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, Ninth Edition

Rating:
Summary: This is the one you need
Review: As you can read from other reviews, this book is the one reference that is used most during the PE exam (very true). The subjects are well organized with many example problems; however, I did catch some errors. The book is very much geared towards the test and I found even the most obscure items somehow referenced in the text. If you plan on doing extensive study I recommend buying the solutions manual to the sample problems as a study guide to help work through the civil engineering disciplines that you do not practice.

Rating:
Summary: Great for a starting point-get practice problems for Geotech
Review: I agree with other users on the great index and also explains clearly phase diagram and their formulas. As I and others can attest to, we have long needed a practice oriented book for the Geotech PM Depth. Improve your odds and get Geotechnical review book by soilstructure.com My copy is well worth the price.

Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile investment
Review: I bought this reference to use for studying for the PE, along with its accompanying study guide; however, I ended up studying only about 4 hours before the PE test. I made my first pass through each session using my normal references, leaving blank any difficult to find problems. I then went back through with this book. I passed the test (in 2002), but in hindsight, I would have done it the other way, That is, use the CE Reference first and then try my other books. This book is a real time saver, and the index is very thorough. I also use it regularly in practice. For perspective, I took the "Water Resources" test.

Rating:
Summary: The book gets the job done, the first time
Review: I just received my civil PE license, after taking the exam once, thanks in large part to Michael Lindeburg and this book. Not only did CERM have just about everything I needed to study for and then take the exam, but Mr. Lindeburg also provides personal help with questions about how problems are solved, possible errata, etc. It's rare to find this kind of commitment from an author. I highly recommend CERM and the sample exam to all civil PE candidates. (I'm going to keep it as a desk reference now that I've passed--it's that useful.)

Rating:
Summary: This book is vital though it could be better...
Review: I just took the PE exam today (Oct. 24, 2003) and I really field tested this book thoroughly. I found it to be a great reference and it helped me answer a lot of the problems on the exam. There tend to be a bunch of questions on the exam that are definition questions...you look up the topic in the index and instantly, you have an answer. Or lots of questions where you have no idea how to solve it...look up the topic in the index, and instantly, you have the equation you need to solve the problem.

It does cover all the topics that the exam deals with...and even has nice supplemental material which deals with some theory/background. You must get the sample questions book that accompanies this book...I even looked through those problems occasionally to assist my in answering the exam problems.

There are some weaknesses though but ones that you can work around. For transportation, the book simply refers you to the codes. Same for the sample questions. It would be nice if the book contained more of the code directly so you wouldn't need to be jumping to those books. Same for the more special topics in structures...it would be nice if the book contained more AASHTO bridge type stuff and it doesn't help much with seismic.

The geotechnical section is very decent...and the water resources section is also good for the morning session (I took structures so do not know how it handles for other topics in the afternoon session). The environmental section was not very good to me (although I don't know much about that topic which is why I probably found it to be confusing) but there are some definitions that come in handy.

The only other slight nag is that the sample problems that accompany the book are in general too involved. You want to understand the topic but you don't want to overstudy a topic.

All in all, this is a must have...could use slight improvement but without much real competition from the other PE book writers, you gotta get it.

Rating:
Summary: The book is As good as new. Thank you!
Review: I've been fortunate to have a lot of varied experience in the Civil Engineering profession, but this is the most comprehensive review on the market. It's heavily weighted in the structures area. So if you're strong in structures, it's nothing more than a brief review. Definitely better than the 6th edition, which I have borrowed from a co-worker.

Rating:
Summary: Good reference book but not enough to pass the exam
Review: This book deals with old codes and neet to be updated to the current codes. I just took the PE exam and found that this book is missing many important information and the examples offered in the book are so simple. The book can eliminate several sections that most unlikely will see in the exam and at the same time add more important topics. The examples within each section need to be revised and become more difficult. Definetly, you will need another reference book with this one in order to pass the exam. I believe that this reference book in addition to "Principles and Practice of Civil Engineering by Potter" are good enough to pass the exam

Rating:
Summary: Great for a starting point-get practice problems for Geotech
Review: This book is more or less standard-issue for PE-takers (come exam day, you'll see zillions of the CERM scattered throughout the exam hall). If you find yourself on the fence about shelling out the $$ for it, I've found it to be a good investment.

Having recently taken and passed the PE exam, I can attest to this book's usefulness. The index, in particular, I found to be pretty expansive - I used it to find answers to more than one problem where I was fairly clueless.

Please note, the CERM's utility is certainly highest on the morning (breadth) section. Although it won't be entirely useless on the afternoon (depth) portion of the exam, you'll definitely utilize other references more heavily. I, for one, was impressed by how lopsided the difference in difficulty between sections turned out to be.

Regardless of exam section, each question is equally weighted; thus, it's best to "clean house" where it's easiest - in the morning. You'll find this manual quite useful for that.

My $0.02...

Rating:
Summary: A Necessary Resource
Review: This is the best book for you to prepare for the PE exam. I took the PE last October and found that this book is great. Don't waste your time on other books. But keep in mind that you need do the problems to practice and increase your calculation speed.