REVIEW INNOVATIONS

MANILA - BAGUIO – CEBU - DAVAO

PHILIPPINES

CIVIL ENGINEERS Final Pre-board Examination

Thursday, November 2, 2023 2:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.
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HYDRAULICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET A

INSTRUCTION: Select the correct answer for each of the following questions.
Mark only one answer for each item by shading the box corresponding to the
letter of your choice on the answer sheet provided. STRICTLY NO ERASURES
ALLOWED.GOOD LUCK.

NOTE: A times B is represented by A × B or A*B. A raised to the power n is

expressed as A^n. All problems are 1 point each.

1. Pick up the correct statement from the following:

A. Soil is the substance existing on the earth's surface, which grows
and develops plants
B. Soil is the material in a relatively thin surface zone within which
roots occur, and rest of the crust is termed as rock irrespective of
hardness
C. Soil is the unaggregated and uncemented deposits of minerals and
organic particles covering the earth's crust
D. All the above

2. Select the correct statement.

A. Unit weight of dry soil is greater than unit weight of wet soil
B. For dry soils, dry unit weight is less than total unit weight
C. Unit weight of soil increases due to submergence in water
D. Unit weight of soil decreases due to submergence in water

3. Voids ratio of a soil mass can

A. Never be greater than unity
B. Be zero
C. Take any value greater than zero
D. Take values between 0 and 1 only

4. An airplane flying at an altitude of 10 km dropped to a height of 6 km.

What is the corresponding change in pressure? Unit weight of air is 12
N/m3.
A. 24 C. 36
B. 48 D. 12

5. Atmospheric pressure is equal to water column head of

A. 9.81 m C. 10.3 m
B. 5.0 m D. 7.5 m

6. The flow in open channel is said to be subcritical if the Froude number is

A. less than 1.0 C. greater than 1.0
B. equal to 1.0 D. none

Situation 1. The following data were obtained from a triaxial test on a

cohesive soil:
Maximum shearing stress at failure plane = 65 kPa
Angle of friction = 28°
Cohesion = 31 kPa
7. Determine the plunger(deviator) stress in kPa.
A. 196.32 C. 187.63
B. 214.57 D. 147.23
8. Determine the minimum normal stress (confining pressure), in kPa.
A. 32.14 C. 24.89
B. 18.54 D. 28.96
9. Determine the normal stress on the plane of maximum shear, in kPa.
A. 98.51 C. 68.47
B. 59.36 D. 85.42

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CIVIL ENGINEERS Final Pre-board Examination
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HYDRAULICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET A
10. Centre of buoyancy is
A. centroid of the floating body
B. centre of pressure of the displaced liquid
C. centroid of the fluid displaced
D. none of these

11. A fireman has to put out a fire but is blocked by a fire wall. To reach
over the wall, he directed the water jet from the nozzle at an angle of 30
deg to the horizontal. Evaluate the velocity of the water, in meters/sec,
leaving the nozzle of his hose to reach over the wall if he stands 30
meters away from the wall and the wall is standing 2 m higher than the
nozzle of the hose. Neglect friction in the jet.
A. 16.8 C. 18.2
B. 20.6 D. 19.6

Situation 2. A column is to be supported by a square footing 2.00 m on a side,

on a founding depth of 1.00 m into a cohesionless soil deposit. The unit
weight of the soil is 16 kN/m^3 and the angle of internal friction is 25°.
Using Terzaghi’s formula for general shear failure.
12. Evaluate the contribution of the depth of embedment to the ultimate
bearing capacity of the soil, in kPa.
A. 193.2 C. 197.8
B. 203.5 D. 209.4
13. Contribution of the footing dimension to the ultimate bearing capacity of
the soil, in kPa.
A. 80.1 C. 133.4
B. 93.6 D. 106.8
14. Concentric load, in kN, that the footing can safely support, using a
factor of safety of 3.0 against bearing capacity failure.
A. 449.2 C. 413.7
B. 364.4 D. 388.5

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CIVIL ENGINEERS Final Pre-board Examination
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HYDRAULICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET A
15. The temperature and pressure of nitrogen in a tank are 28°C and 498 kPa,
respectively. Determine the specific weight (N/m 3) of the nitrogen if the
gas constant is 30.3 m/K.
A. 72.5 C. 54.6
B. 48.9 D. 65.7

16. A triangular concrete gravity dam is 9 m high. The upstream face is

vertical and the water is flush with the top. Determine the smallest base
width (m) of the dam that will prevent the dam from overturning.
A. 4.11 C. 8.07
B. 6.84 D. 10.35

17. A 200 mm by 200 mm by 400 mm block weighs 50 N when fully submerged into
water. What is the weight (N) of the block in air?
A. 207 C. 157
B. 50 D. 107

Situation 3. A layer of sand 5 meters deep overlies a 4 m thick bed of clay.

Assume sand has saturated unit weight & dry unit weight of 20.9 kN/m 3 &
17.4 kN/m 3 respectively, while the clay has saturated unit weight of
17.8 kN/m 3. Determine the effective stress 9 m below the ground surface
if:
18. The water table is at the ground level.
A. 118.96 kPa C. 87.41 kPa
B. 88.29 kPa D. 107.03 kPa
19. The water table is at 2 meters below ground level and the sand above
remains saturated with capillary moisture.
A. 118.96 kPa C. 87.41 kPa
B. 88.29 kPa D. 107.03 kPa
20. If the water table is at the top of the clay.
A. 118.96 kPa C. 87.41 kPa
B. 88.29 kPa D. 107.03 kPa

Situation 4. A square plate having one of its side equal to 3 m is immersed in

water in a vertical position such that the two edges of the square would
be horizontal in order that the center of pressure shall be 8 cm from
the center of gravity.
21. How far below the water surface should the upper plate be submerged?
A. 5.875 C. 7.875
B. 6.875 D. 8.875
22. What is the distance of the center of pressure from the water surface?
A. 9.455 C. 7.455
B. 8.455 D. 6.455
23. Determine the hydrostatic force acting on the plate at this position.
A. 743.9 C. 827.7
B. 668.4 D. 901.6

Situation 5. Crude oil of density 925 kg/m3 and absolute viscosity of 0.065 N-
s/m2 is pumped through a horizontal pipeline 100 mm in diameter, at a
rate of 10 li/s.
24. Determine the Reynold’s number.
A. 925 C. 2000
B. 3645 D. 1812
25. Determine the head loss (m) in each kilometer of the pipeline.
A. 20.4 C. 28.9
B. 24.8 D. 22.6
26. Calculate the shear stress at the pipe wall, in Pascals.
A. 6.56 C. 8.82
B. 7.72 D. 9.92

27. Back fill with a sloping surface exerts a total active pressure Pa on the
wall of height H and acts at
A. H/4 above the base parallel to base
B. H/2 above the base parallel to base
C. H/3 above the base parallel to base
D. H/5 above the base parallel to base

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CIVIL ENGINEERS Final Pre-board Examination
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HYDRAULICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET A
28. Select the incorrect statement.
A. Bearing capacity of a soil depends upon the amount and direction
of load
B. Bearing capacity of a soil depends on the type of soil
C. Bearing capacity of a soil depends upon shape and size of footing
D. Bearing capacity of a soil is independent of rate of loading

29. The rise of water table below the foundation influences the bearing
capacity of soil mainly by reducing
A. Cohesion and effective angle of shearing resistance
B. Cohesion and effective unit weight of soil
C. Effective unit weight of soil and effective angle of shearing
resistance
D. Effective angle of shearing resistance

30. If the water content of a fully saturated soil mass is 100%, then the
voids ratio of the sample is
A. Less than specific gravity of soil
B. Equal to specific gravity of soil
C. Greater than specific gravity of soil
D. Independent of specific gravity of soil

Situation 6. Water is flowing in a 9-m wide rectangular channel at 7.65 m3/s

and a depth of 0.9 m.
31. What is the specific energy (m)?
A. 0.82 C. 1.12
B. 1.24 D. 0.95
32. What is the critical depth (m)?
A. 0.42 C. 0.64
B. 0.53 D. 0.75
33. What is the critical velocity?
A. 2.03 C. 2.51
B. 2.28 D. 2.71

34. The pressure in a gas tank is 2.75 atm. Compute the pressure head in
meters of water.
A. 16 m C. 12 m
B. 14 m D. 18 m

Situation 7. In accordance with the Bousinesq theory, the vertical stress at a

point below the center of a flexible circular area in a semi-infinite,
homogeneous, isotropic soil mass due to a uniform load is given by the
expression

P = q (1 - 1/N)
N = [1 + (r/z)^2]^1.5

q = uniform load per unit area at the base of the footing

r = radius of point of the circular area
z = depth of point below the center of the circular area

35. Evaluate the bearing pressure, in kPa, exerted by the footing onto the
supporting soil by a 4 – m diameter circular footing that is transmitting
a column load of 1500 kN.
A. 77.9 C. 110
B. 119 D. 99.5
36. Evaluate the vertical stress, in kPa, at a depth 6 meters below the center
of the footing.
A. 25.5 C. 17.5
B. 22.6 D. 19.6
37. How deep, in meters, below the footing would the pressure be reduced to
1/10 of the pressure at the base of the footing?
A. 8.41 C. 9.01
B. 6.95 D. 7.42

Situation 8. A granular soil specimen is initially under an isotropic stress

state where the all-around confining pressure is 50 kPa. The specimen
is subjected to additional vertical stress that is gradually increased
from zero. The specimen failed when the additional vertical stress was
96 kPa.

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CIVIL ENGINEERS Final Pre-board Examination
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HYDRAULICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING SET A
38. What is the friction angle of the soil?
A. 29.3° C. 26.2°
B. 23.9° D. 22.6°
39. What is the orientation of the failure plane?
A. 29.3° C. 59.7°
B. 26.2° D. 58.1°
40. If another specimen of the same granular soil at an isotropic confining
pressure of 80 kPa is subjected to similar loading. What additional vertical
stress is required to cause failure in the sample?
A. 156.3 kPa C. 233.8 kPa
B. 153.6 kPa D. 283.8 kPa

Situation 9. A container holds two layers of different liquids, one having a

specific gravity of 1.2 and the other having a specific gravity of 1.5.
A solid spherical metal having a diameter of 200 mm and specific gravity
of 7.4 is submerged in such a manner that half of the sphere is on the
top layer and the other half in the bottom layer of liquid.

41. Evaluate the buoyant force acting on the sphere, in kN.

A. 0.03 C. 0.09
B. 0.02 D. 0.06
42. Tension in the cable attached to the sphere to normal position.
A. 0.25 C. 0.64
B. 0.52 D. 0.46
43. Buoyant force in the sphere if both liquids are water.
A. 0.04 C. 0.08
B. 0.07 D. 0.10

Situation 10. An open cylindrical tank, 2m in diameter and 4m high contains

water to a depth of 3m. It is rotated about its own vertical axis with a
constant angular speed ω.

44. What is the maximum ω (in rpm) so that there is no liquid spilled
A. 61.3 C. 59.8
B. 67.1 D. 55.6
45. What is the ω (in rpm) when the vortex touches the bottom of the cylinder?
A. 89.3 C. 84.6
B. 80.7 D. 81.2
46. What is the volume spill in liters when ω = 8 rad/s?
A. 1.41 C. 1.61
B. 1.98 D. 1.84

47. A container that is partially filled with water is transported at a

constant acceleration of 4 m /s^2. Determine the approximate angle formed
by the water surface and the vertical?
A. 18.22 C. 22.18
B. 67.82 D. 71.78

Situation 11. A smooth vertical wall 5 m high retaining a sand of unit weight
17 kN/m3 for which  = 35° and c = 0; the surface of the sand is horizontal
and the water table is below the bottom of the wall. Consider 1 m with of
wall.
48. Calculate the total active thrust on the wall.
A. 59.9 kN C. 64.0 kN
B. 57.6 kN D. 46.1 kN
49. For a dry sandy soil, a direct shear test was performed. Its vertical
normal force was 12.49 kPa and the measured shear force was 7.92 kPa.
Determine the angle of internal friction of the soil.
A. 57.60 C. 28.10
B. 32.40 D. 23.40
50. A 350 mm-diameter and 12 m-long concrete pile is driven into the ground
where cu = 100 kPa,  = 0.47 and Nc = 9. Estimate the shaft load capacity.
A. 527 kN C. 422 kN
B. 474 kN D. 620 kN

-o0o-
WARNING: Failure to submit your Test Questions (Complete) set will cause the
cancellation of your Test-Results for the subject.

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