CE 4070 / CE4950 :: Viva-Voce

13-07-2020
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras
VIVA VOCE – WRITTEN EXAM
40 marks 13 July 2020
th 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Answer any 40 Questions
BUBBLE the right choice (A) (B) (C) or (D) in the question paper itself.
Scientific calculators are allowed.
Mobile phones are not allowed

Name:
Roll No:

1. The number of independent elastic constants for a linear elastic isotropic and Homogeneous
material is
(A) 4 (B) 3 (C) 2 (D) 1

2. The maximum shear stress developed inside a cube which is submerged deep into sea, in such a
way that the pressure exerted on all the faces of the cube is p, is:
(A) 0 (B) p/2 (C) p (D) 2p

3. A column of size 450 mm × 600 mm has unsupported length of 3.0 m and is braced against side
sway in both directions. According to IS 456:2000, the minimum eccentricities (in mm) with
respect to major and minor principle axes are
(A) 20.0 and 20.0 (B) 26.0 and 21.0
(C) 26.0 and 20.0 (D) 21.0 and 15.0

4. The degree of static indeterminacy of the following frame is:

(A) 0 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 5

5. Prying forces are

(A) shearing forces on the bolts because of the joints
(B) tensile forces due to the flexibility of connected parts
(C) bending forces on the bolts because of the joints
(D) forces due the friction between connected parts
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 6. The partial factor of safety for concrete as per IS: 456-2000 is
(A) 1.50 (B) 1.15 (C) 0.87 (D) 0.446

7. The symmetry of stress tensor at a point in the body under equilibrium is obtained from
(A) Conservation of mass (B) Force equilibrium equations
(C) Moment equilibrium equations (D) Conservation of energy

8. The point within the cross sectional plane of a beam through which the resultant of the external
loading on the beam has to pass through to ensure pure bending without twisting of the cross-
section of the beam is called
(A) Moment centre (B) Centroid (C) Shear centre (D) Elastic centre

9. The effective length of a column of length L fixed against rotation and translation at one end and
free at the other end is
(A) 0.5 L (B) 0.7 L (C) 1.414 L (D) 2L

10. The number of zero force members in the following truss is

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4
B C D

A E
F
P

11. A clayey soil has a maximum dry density of 16 kN/m3 and optimum moisture content of 12%. A
contractor during the construction of core of an earth dam obtained the dry density 15.2 kN/m3 and water
content 11%.This construction is acceptable because
(A) The density is less than the maximum dry density and water content is on dry side of optimum.
(B) The compaction density is very low and water content is less than 12%
(C) The compaction is done on the dry side of the optimum
(D) Both the dry density and water content of the compacted soil are within the desirable limits

12. Negative skin friction in a soil is considered when the pile is constructed through a
(A) Fill material (B) dense coarse sand (C) over consolidated stiff clay (D) dense fine sand

13. A strip footing (8 m wide) is designed for a total settlement of 40 mm. The safe bearing capacity
(shear) was 150 kN/m2 and safe allowable soil pressure was 100 kN/m2. Due to importance of the
structure, now the footing is to be redesigned for total settlement of 25 mm. The new width of the footing
will be
(A) 5 m (B) 8 m (C) 12 m (D) 12.8 m

14. The effective stress friction angle of a saturated, cohesionless soil is 380, The ratio of shear stress to
normal effective stress on the failure plane is
(A) 0.781 (B) 0.616 (C) 0.488 (D) 0.438
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15. Quick sand condition occurs when
(A) The void ratio of the soil becomes 1.0
(B) The effective pressure becomes zero
(C) The effective pressure in soil becomes equal to seepage pressure.
(D) The effective pressure in soil becomes equal to the submerged unit weight of the soil

16. In its natural condition a soil sample has a mass of 1.980 kg and a volume of 0.001 m3. After being
completely dried in an oven, the mass of the sample is 1.800 kg. Specific gravity is 2.7. Unit weight of
water is 10 kN/m3. The degree of saturation of soil is
(A) 0.65 (B) 0.7 (C) 0.54 (D) 0.61

17. Four columns of building are to be located within a plot size of 10 m×10 m. The expected load on
each column is 400 KN. Allowable bearing capacity of soil deposit is 100 kN /m2 . The type of
foundation to be used is
(A) Isolated foundation (B) Raft foundation (C) Pile foundation (D) Combined foundation

18. Following statement are made on compacted soil, where DS stands for soil compaction on Dry Side
of OMC and WS stands for soil compacted on Wet Side of OMC. Identify incorrect statement
(A) Soil structure is flocculated on DS and dispersed on WS
(B) Construction of pore water pressure is low on DS and High on WS
(C) Soil on drying, shrinkage is high on DS and Low on WS
(D) On addition to water, swelling is high on DS and low on WS

19. The contact pressure for a rigid footing resting on clay at the centre and the edges are respectively
(A) Maximum and zero (B) maximum and minimum
(C) Zero and maximum (D) minimum and maximum

20. Neutral pressure (Pore pressure) is

(A) Always compressive.
(B) Always tensile
(C) Compressive below water table and tensile above water table.
(D) Compressive above water table and tensile below water table.

21. A Building constructed on a compressive layer settles 80 mm in 4 years. Assuming that the degree of
consolidation at both the times is less than 60%, the settlement in 9 years is
(A) 80 mm (B) 100 mm (C) 120mm (D) 60 mm

22. The phenomenon when the sand losses its strength due to oscillatory motion in saturated condition is
known as
(A) Quick sand (B) Plastic sand (C) Liquefaction (D) Piping

23. A canal excavated to a depth of 5 m below ground level C=1.5t/m, γsat = 2t/m3 .If stability number
for the soil is 0.1, the factor of safety of slope when it runs full is
(A) 1 (B) 1.5 (C) 2 (D) 3

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24. The bearing capacity of a footing in pure clay soils is independent of
(A) Depth of footing (B) Width of footing (C) Shape of footing (D) Water table

25. If the angle of internal friction of a soil is about 200, the shear failure that can be expected is
(A) General shear (B) Mixed shear (C) Local shear (D) Punching shear

26. The minimum spacing of piles which derive their capacity only by friction should not be less
than……….. times the diameter of the pile shaft
(A) 3.5 (B) 3.0 (C) 2.5 (D) 4

27. On which of the canal systems, R.G. Kennedy, executive engineer in the Punjab Irrigation
Department made his observations for proposing his theory on stable channels?
(A) Krishna Western Delta canals (B) Lower Bari Doab canals (C) Lower Chenab canals (D) Upper
Bari Doab canals

28. In aerobic environment, nitrosomonas convert

(A) NH3 to NO2 (B) NO2- to NO3- (C) NH3 to N2O (D) NO2- to HNO3

29. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen is a measure of

(A) Total organic nitrogen
(B) Total organic and ammonia nitrogen
(C) Total ammonia nitrogen
(D) Total inorganic and ammonia nitrogen

30. A sample of domestic sewage is digested with silver sulphate, sulphuric acid, potassium dischromate
and mercuric sulphate in chemical oxygen demand (COD) test. The digested sample is then titrated with
standard ferrous ammonium sulphate (FAS) to determine the unreacted amount of
(A) Mercuric sulphate
(B) Potassium dichromate
(C) Silver sulphate
(D) Sulphuric acid

31. A water sample has a pH of 9.25. The concentration of hydroxyl ions in the water sample is
(A) 10-9.25 moles/L (B) 10-7.75 mmoles/L (C) 0.302 mg/L (D) 3.020 mg/L

32. A town is required to treat 4.2 m3 /min of raw water for daily domestic supply. Flocculating particles
are to be produced by chemical coagulation. A column analysis indicated that an overflow rate of 0.2
mm/s will produce satisfactory particle removal in a settling basin at a depth of 3.5 m. The required
surface area (in m2) for settling is
(A) 210 (B) 350 (C) 1728 (D) 21000

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33. For subcritical flow in an open channel, the control section for gradually varied flow profile is
(A) at the downstream end (B) at the upstream end (C) at the both ends (D) at any intermediate
section

34. For a 2-D flow field, the stream function, is given as The magnitude of discharge
occurring between the stream line passing through points (0, 3) and (3, 4) is
(A) 6 units (B) 3 units (C) 1.5 units (D) 2 units

35. A 1 hour rainfall of 10 cm has return period of 50 year. The probability that 1 hour of rainfall 10 cm
or more will occur in each of two successive years is
(A) 0.04 (B) 0.2 (C) 0.2 (D) 0.0004

36. The dominating microorganisms in an activated sludge process reactor are

(A) aerobic heterotrophs (B) anaerobic heterotrophs
(C) autotrophs (D) phototrophs

37. The two air pollution control devices that are usually used to remove very fine particles from the flue
gas are
(A) Cyclone and Venturi Scrubber
(B) Cyclone and Packed Scrubber
(C) Electrostatic Precipitator and Fabric Filter
(D) Settling Chamber and Tray Scrubber

38. A hydraulic jump takes place in a frictionless rectangular channel. The pre-jump depth is yp. The
alternate and sequent depths corresponding to yp are ya and ys respectively. The correct relationship
among yp, ya and ys is
(A) ya < ys < yp (B) yp < ys < ya (C) yp < ys = ya (D) ya = ys = yp

39. Ultimate BOD of a river water sample is 20 mg/L. BOD rate constant (natural log) is 0.15 day–1.The
respective values of BOD (in %) exerted and remaining after 7 days are:
(A) 45 and 55 (B) 55 and 45 (C) 65 and 35 (D) 75 and 25

40. Identify the FALSE statement from the following

The specific speed of the pump increases with
(A) Increase in shaft speed
(B) Increase in discharge
(C) Decrease in gravitational acceleration
(D) Increase in head

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41. Which of the following statement is NOT true in the context of capillary pressure in soils?
(A) Water is under tension in capillary zone
(B) Pore water pressure is negative in capillary zone
(C) Effective stress increases due to capillary pressure
(D) Capillary pressure is more in coarse grained soils.

42. When the outflow from a storage reservoir is uncontrolled as in a freely operating spillway, the peak
of outflow hydrograph occurs at
(A) The point of inter-section of the inflow and outflow hydrographs
(B) A point, after the inter-section of the inflow and outflow hydrographs
(C) The tail of inflow hydrographs
(D) A point, before the inter-section of the inflow and outflow hydrographs

43. 1 TCU is equivalent to the colour produced by

(A) 1 mg / L of chlorplatinate ion
(B) 1 mg/L of platinum ion
(C) 1 mg/L Platinum in form of chlorplatinate ion
(D) 1 mg/L of organo-chlorplatinate ion

44. Assuming that a river bed level does not change and the depth of water in river was 10m, 15m and
8m during the months of February, July and December respectively of a particular year. The average bulk
density of the soil is 20kN/m3. The density of water is 10kN/m3. The effective stress at a depth of 10m
below the river bed during these months would be
(A) 300 kN/m2 in February, 350 kN/m2 July and 320 kN/m2 in December
(B) 100 kN/m2 in February, 100 kN/m2 July and 100 kN/m2 in December
(C) 200 kN/m2 in February, 250 kN/m2 July and 180 kN/m2 in December
(D) 300 kN/m2 in February, 350 kN/m2 July and 280 kN/m2 in December

45. The length of Summit Curve on a two lane two-way highway depends upon
(A) Allowable rate of change of centrifugal acceleration
(B) Coefficient of lateral friction
(C) Required Stopping Sight Distance
(D) Required Overtaking Sight Distance

46. Group I contains some properties of Bitumen. Group II gives a list Laboratory Tests conducted on
Bitumen to determine the properties. Match the property with
the corresponding test
Group I Group II
P. Resistance to flow 1. Ductility test
Q. Ability to deform under load 2. Penetration test
R. Safety 3. Flash and Fire point test

(A) P-2, Q-1, R-3 (B) P-2, Q-3, R-1 (C) P-1, Q-2, R-3 (D) P-3, Q-1, R-2

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47. Transport company operates a scheduled daily truck service between P and city Q. One-way journey
time between these two cities is 85 hours. A minimum layover time of 5 hours is to be provided at each
city. How many trucks are required to provide this service?
(A) 4 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8

48. The following observations were made of an axle-load survey on a road

Axle Load (kN) Repetitions per day
35-45 800
75-85 400

The standard axle load is 80kN. Equivalent daily number of repetitions for the standard axle – load are
(A) 450 (B) 480 (C) 800 (D) 1200

49. A road is having a horizontal curve of 400m radius on which a super-elevation of 0.07 is provided.
The coefficient of lateral friction mobilized on the curve when a vehicle is travelling at 100kmph is
(A) 0.07 (B) 0.13 (C) 0.15 (D) 0.4

50. For the movement of vehicles at an intersection of two roads, without any interference, the type of
grade separator generally preferred to, is
(A) Delta (B) Trumpet (C) Diamond interchange (D) Clover leaf

51. Two major roads with two-lanes each are crossing in an urban area to form an un-controlled
intersection. The number of conflict points when both roads are one-way is “X” and when both roads are
two-way is “Y”. The ratio of X to Y is
(A) 0.25 (B) 0.33 (C) 0.50 (D) 0.75

52. Road roughness is measured using

(A) Benklman beam
(B) Bump integrator
(C) Dynamic cone penetrometer
(D) Falling weight deflectometer

53. For two major-roads with divided carriage way crossing at right angle, a full clover leaf interchange
with four indirect ramps is provided. Following statements are made on turning movement of vehicles to
all direction from both roads. Identify the correct statement
(A) Merging from left is not possible, but diverging to left is possible
(B) Merging from left and diverging to left is possible
(C) Merging from left is possible but diverging is not possible
(D) Neither merging from left nor diverging to left is possible

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54. The survey carried out to delineate natural features, such as hills, rivers, forests and manmade
features, such as towns, villages, buildings, roads, transmission lines and canals is classified as
(A) engineering survey (B) geological survey (C) land survey (D) topographic survey

55. In a Marshall sample, the bulk specific gravity of mix and aggregates are 2.324 and 2.546
respectively. The sample includes 5% of bitumen (by total weight of mix) of specific gravity 1.10. The
theoretical maximum specific gravity of mix is 2.441. The void filled with bitumen (VFB) in the
Marshall sample (in %) is _______
(A) 62 to 66 (B) 52 to 56 (C) 70 to 74 (D) 48 to 52

56. On a section of a highway the speed-density relationship is linear and is given by V = [80-(2*k/3)];
where v is in km/hr and k is in vehicle/km. The capacity (in vehicle/hr) of this section of the highway
would be
(A)1200 (B) 2400 (C) 4800 (D) 9600

57. The combined correction due to curvature and refraction (in m) for distance of 1 km on the surface of
Earth is
(A) 0.0673 (B) 0.673 (C) 7.63 (D) 0.763

58. The following statements are made related to the lengths of turning lanes at signalised Intersections
(i) 1.5 times the average number of vehicles (by vehicle type) that would store in turning lane per cycle
during the peak hour.
(ii) 2 times the average number of vehicles (by vehicle type) that would store in turning lane per cycle
during the peak hour.
(iii) Average number of vehicles (by vehicle type) that would store in the adjacent through lane per cycle
during the peak hour.
(iv) Average number of vehicles (by vehicle type) that would store in all lanes per cycle during the peak
hour.
As per the IRC recommendations, the correct choice for design length of storage lanes is
(A) Maximum of (ii and iii) (B) Maximum of (i and iii) (C) Average of (i and iii) (D) Only (iv)

59. A student riding a bicycle on a 5 km one-way street takes 40 minutes to reach home. The student
stopped for 15 minutes during this ride. 60 vehicles overtook the student (assume the number of vehicles
overtaken by the student is zero) during the ride and 45 vehicles while the student stopped. The speed of
vehicle stream on that road (in km/hr) is
(A) 7.5 (B) 12 (C) 40 (D) 60

60. Bituminous concrete is a mix comprising of

(A) Fine aggregate, filler and bitumen
(B) Fine aggregate and bitumen
(C) Coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, filler and bitumen
(D) Coarse aggregate, filler and bitumen

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