CIVIL ENGINEERING

CIVIL ENGINEERING MCQs

1. The spot speeds (expressed in km/hr) observed at a road section are 66, 62, 45, 79, 32, 51, 56, 60, 53, and 49. The median speed (expressed in km/hr) is _________
Ans: 54.49 : 54.51

2. As per Indian standards for bricks, minimum acceptable compressive strength of any class of burnt clay bricks in dry state is
(A) 10.0 MPa (B) 7.5 MPa (C) 5.0 MPa (D) 3.5 MPa
Ans: D

3. A strip footing is resting on the surface of a purely clayey soil deposit. If the width of the footing is doubled, the ultimate bearing capacity of the soil
(A) becomes double (B) becomes half (C) becomes four-times (D) remains the same
Ans: D

4. The results of a consolidation test on an undisturbed soil, sampled at a depth of 10 m below the ground level are as follows:
Saturated unit weight : 16 kN/m3
Pre-consolidation pressure : 90 kPa
The water table was encountered at the ground level. Assuming the unit weight of water as 10 kN/m3, the over-consolidation ratio of the soil is
(A) 0.67 (B) 1.50 (C) 1.77 (D) 2.00
Ans: B

5. Water table of an aquifer drops by 100 cm over an area of 1000 km2 . The porosity and specific retention of the aquifer material are 25% and 5%, respectively. The amount of water (expressed in km3) drained out from the area is ______
Ans: 0.19 : 0.21

6. The atmospheric layer closest to the earth surface is
(A) the mesosphere (B) the stratosphere
(C) the thermosphere (D) the troposphere
Ans: D

7. A water supply board is responsible for treating 1500 m3/day of water. A settling column analysis indicates that an overflow rate of 20 m/day will produce satisfactory removal for a depth of 3.1 m. It is decided to have two circular settling tanks in parallel. The required diameter (expressed in m) of the settling tanks is __________
Ans: 6.8 : 7.0

8. The hardness of a ground water sample was found to be 420 mg/L as CaCO3. A softener containing ion exchange resins was installed to reduce the total hardness to 75 mg/L as CaCO3 before supplying to 4 households. Each household gets treated water at a rate of 540 L/day. If the efficiency of the softener is 100%, the bypass flow rate (expressed in L/day) is _________
Ans: 380 : 390

9. The sound pressure (expressed in µPa) of the faintest sound that a normal healthy individual can hear is
(A) 0.2 (B) 2 (C) 20 (D) 55
Ans: C

10. In the context of the IRC 58-2011 guidelines for rigid pavement design, consider the following pair of statements.
I: Radius of relative stiffness is directly related to modulus of elasticity of concrete and inversely related to Poisson's ratio
II: Radius of relative stiffness is directly related to thickness of slab and modulus of subgrade reaction.
Which one of the following combinations is correct?
(A) I: True; II: True (B) I: False; II: False
(C) I: True; II: False (D) I: False; II: True
Ans: B

11. If the total number of commercial vehicles per day ranges from 3000 to 6000, the minimum percentage of commercial traffic to be surveyed for axle load is
(A) 15 (B) 20 (C) 25 (D) 30
Ans: A

12. Optimal flight planning for a photogrammetric survey should be carried out considering
(A) only side-lap
(B) only end-lap
(C) either side-lap or end-lap
(D) both side-lap as well as end-lap
Ans: D

13. The reduced bearing of a 10 m long line is N30°E. The departure of the line is
(A) 10.00 m (B) 8.66 m (C) 7.52 m (D) 5.00 m
Ans: D

14. A circular curve of radius R connects two straights with a deflection angle of 60°. The tangent length is
(A) 0.577 R (B) 1.155 R (C) 1.732 R (D) 3.464 R
Ans: A

15. The seepage occurring through an earthen dam is represented by a flownet comprising of 10 equipotential drops and 20 flow channels. The coefficient of permeability of the soil is 3 mm/min and the head loss is 5 m. The rate of seepage (expressed in cm3
/s per m length of the dam) through the earthen dam is _________
Ans: 495 : 505

16. OMC-SP and MDD-SP denote the optimum moisture content and maximum dry density obtained from standard Proctor compaction test, respectively. OMC-MP and MDD-MP denote the optimum moisture content and maximum dry density obtained from the modified Proctor compaction test, respectively. Which one of the following is correct?
(A) OMC-SP < OMC-MP and MDD-SP < MDD-MP
(B) OMC-SP > OMC-MP and MDD-SP < MDD-MP
(C) OMC-SP < OMC-MP and MDD-SP > MDD-MP
(D) OMC-SP > OMC-MP and MDD-SP > MDD-MP
Ans: B

17. The ordinates of a one-hour unit hydrograph at sixty minute interval are 0, 3, 12, 8, 6, 3 and 0 m3/s. A two-hour storm of 4 cm excess rainfall occurred in the basin from 10 AM. Considering constant base flow of 20 m3 /s, the flow of the river (expressed in m3
/s) at 1 PM is _________
Ans: 59 : 61

18. A 3 m wide rectangular channel carries a flow of 6 m3 /s. The depth of flow at a section P is 0.5 m. A flat-topped hump is to be placed at the downstream of the section P. Assume negligible energy loss between section P and hump, and consider g as 9.81 m/s2 . The maximum height of the hump (expressed in m) which will not change the depth of flow at section P is _________
Ans: 0.19 : 0.21

19. A penstock of 1 m diameter and 5 km length is used to supply water from a reservoir to an impulse turbine. A nozzle of 15 cm diameter is fixed at the end of the penstock. The elevation difference between the turbine and water level in the reservoir is 500 m. Consider the head loss due to friction as 5% of the velocity head available at the jet. Assume unit weight of water = 10 kN/m3
and acceleration due to gravity (g) = 10 m/s2 . If the overall efficiency is 80%, power generated (expressed in kW and rounded to nearest integer) is _______________
Ans: 6560 : 6580

20. A tracer takes 100 days to travel from Well-1 to Well-2 which are 100 m apart. The elevation of water surface in Well-2 is 3 m below that in Well-1. Assuming porosity equal to 15%, the coefficient of permeability (expressed in m/day) is
(A) 0.30 (B) 0.45 (C) 1.00 (D) 5.00
Ans: D

21. A noise meter located at a distance of 30 m from a point source recorded 74 dB. The reading at a distance of 60 m from the point source would be _________
Ans: 67 : 69

22. The critical flow ratios for a three-phase signal are found to be 0.30, 0.25, and 0.25. The total time lost in the cycle is 10 s. Pedestrian crossings at this junction are not significant. The respective Green times (expressed in seconds and rounded off to the nearest integer) for the three phases are
(A) 34, 28, and 28 (B) 40, 25, and 25 (C) 40, 30, and 30 (D) 50, 25, and 25
Ans: A

23. A motorist traveling at 100 km/h on a highway needs to take the next exit, which has a speed limit of 50 km/h. The section of the roadway before the ramp entry has a downgrade of 3% and coefficient of friction ( f ) is 0.35. In order to enter the ramp at the maximum allowable speed limit, the braking distance (expressed in m) from the exit ramp is _________
Ans: 92 : 93

24. A tall tower was photographed from an elevation of 700 m above the datum. The radial distances of the top and bottom of the tower from the principal points are 112.50 mm and 82.40 mm, respectively. If the bottom of the tower is at an elevation 250 m above the datum, then the height (expressed in m) of the tower is _________
Ans: 120 : 121

25. The Indian standard brick size is
1) 19 cm x 9 cm x 9 cm
2) 18 cm x 9 cm x 9 cm
3) 20 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm
4) 20 cm x 10 cm x 9 cm
Ans: 1

26. The first class brick immersed in water for 24 hours should not absorb water (by weight) more than
1) 5%
2) 10%
3) 15%
4) 20%
Ans: 4

27. Seasoning of timber is done for
1) To reduce weight only
2) To make it soft only
3) To prevent shrinkage and warping
4) To increase moisture content
Ans: 3

28. IS 12269 deals with
1) 53 grade Ordinary portland cement
2) 43 grade Ordinary portland cement
3) 33 grade Ordinary portland cement
4) Sleeper cements
Ans: 1

29. Workability of concrete may be measured by
1) Slump test
2) Minimum void method
3) Maximum density method
4) Fineness modulus method
Ans: 1

30. Ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements may be used to establish
1) Homogeneity of concrete
2) Presence of cracks and voids
3) Quality of concrete in relation to standard requirements
4) All the above
Ans: 4

31. In the analyses of plane frame, the stiffness factor at a joint is taken equal to the sum of stiffness factors the members connected to the joint by using
1) Principle of virtual work
2) Principle of angular momentum
3) Principle of super position
4) Principle minimum work done
Ans: 3

32. The principle of virtual work is applied to elastic system by considering virtual work done by
1) Internal forces only
2) External forces only
3) Internal as well as external forces
4) None of the above
Ans: 3

33. The deflection at any point of a perfect frame can be obtained by applying a unit load at the joint in
1) The direction in which the deflection is required
2) Vertical direction
3) Horizontal direction
4) Inclined direction
Ans: 1

34. In the procedure of Macaulay’s method, for getting the deflection equation
1) The differential equation of flexure is integrated for once
2) The differential equation of flexure is integrated for twice
3) The differential equation of flexure is integrated for thrice
4) None of the above
Ans: 2

35. The Castigliano’s second theorem can be used compute deflections
1) In statistically determinate structures only
2) At the point under the load only
3) for beams and frames only
4) For any type of structure
Ans: 4

36. The width of analogous column in the method of analogy is
1) 2/(EI)
2) 1/(EI)
3) 1/2(EI)
4) 1/4(EI)
Ans: 2

37. In slope deflection equations, the deformations are considered to be caused by
1) Axial force
2) Shear force
3) Bending moment
4) All the above
Ans: 3

38. As per IS-800, the minimum pitch of bolts in a row of bolts is recommended as the diameter of the bolt times
1) 2.0
2) 2.5
3) 3.0
4) 4.0
Ans: 2

39. In a fillet weld, the weakest section is the
1) smaller side of the fillet
2) throat of the fillet
3) side perpendicular to force
4) side parallel to force
Ans: 2

40. In rolled steel beams, major part of bending moment is resisted by
1) Flanges
2) Web
3) Flanges and web
4) Flanges, web and fillets
Ans: 1

41. Load on connection is not eccentric for
1) Lap joint
2) Single cover butt joint
3) Double cover butt joint
4) All the above
Ans: 3

42. A steel column in a structure carries a load of 125 kN. It is built up of 2 ISMC 350 channels connected by lacing. The lacing carries a load of
1) 125 kN
2) 12.5 kN
3) 3.125 kN
4) Zero
Ans: 3

43. The section in which concrete is not fully stressed to its maximum permissible value while stress in steel reaches its maximum value, is called
1) Under reinforced section
2) Critical section
3) Over reinforced section
4) Balanced section
Ans: 1

44. The centre to centre spacing of vertical stirrups, in a rectangular reinforced concrete beam is
1) increased towards the centre of the span of the beam.
2) decreased towards the centre of the span of the beam.
3) increased at the ends
4) maintained nonuniformly.
Ans: 1

45. Maximum reinforcement in an RCC beam of dimension b x D shall not exceed
1) 0.06 bD
2) 0.04bD
3) 0.02 bD
4) 0.08bD
Ans: 2

46. The diameter of longitudinal bars in a column should not be less than
1) 4 mm
2) 8 mm
3) 12 mm
4) 16 mm
Ans: 3

47. The profile of the prestressing steel in prestressed concrete member follows
1) Axial force diagram
2) Shear force diagram
3) Bending moment diagram
4) None of the above
Ans: 3

48. The technique for establishing and maintaining priorities among various jobs of a project, is known
1) Event flow scheduling technique
2) short interval scheduling
3) Critical ratio scheduling
4) Slotting technique for scheduling
Ans: 3

49. The performance of a specific task in CPM, is known
1) Dummy
2) Event
3) Contract
4) Activity
Ans: 4

50. If a is the optimistic time, b is the pessimistic time and m is most likely time of an activity, the expected time of the activity, is
1) (a+m+b)/6
2) (a+2m+b)/6
3) (a+4m+b)/6
4) (a+5m+b)/6
Ans: 3

51. The field capacity of a soil is 25%, its permanent wilting point is 15% and specific dry unity weight is 1.5, if the depth of root zone of a crop, is 80 cm, the storage capacity of the soil, is
1) 8 cm
2) 10 cm
3) 12 cm
4) 14 cm
Ans: 3

52. One of the basic assumptions made in unit hydrograph theory is
1) Rainfall is uniform all over the catchment
2) Base flow is considered
3) Rainfall varies with time
4) All the above
Ans: 1

53. A process determining outflow pattern from reservoirs for any given pattern of inflow, storage and tail-water condition is known as
1) Hydrograph
2) Flood discharge
3) Runoff estimate
4) Flood routing
Ans: 4

54. The recording type rain-guage gives
1) Mass curve of rainfall
2) Hydrograph
3) Total rainfall of 24 hours period
4) Monthly rainfall
Ans: 1

55. The solid roller bucket is arranged at the end of a spillway to
1) measure the discharge
2) provide stability to the spillway
3) trap silt from flowing water
4) dissipate energy through hydraulic jump
Ans: 4

56. To avoid gravity dam failure by crushing for the dam material of allowable stress 300 t/sq.m and specific gravity 2.4, the limiting height is equal to
1) 88.23 m
2) 125.25 m
3) 214.29 m
4) >214.29 m
Ans: 1

57. The recommended maximum water supply needs as per CPHEEO guidelines for metropolitan and mega cities where sewerage system is existing or contemplated in litres per capita per day (lpcd)
1) 45
2) 70
3) 136
4) 150
Ans: 4

58. Dental caries, a disease caused by drinking water due to
1) Excess fluorine
2) Absence of fluorine
3) Excess of nitrates
4) Presence of lead
Ans: 2

59. If the BOD of a diluted sample in 1:100 ratio is 11 ppm in the beginning and 8 PPM at the end of 5 days, then BOD of the sample is
1) 300 PPM
2) 950 PPM
3) 137.5 PPM
4) 73 PPM
Ans: 1

60. The peak factor suggested by CPHEEO for computing carrying capacity in the design of sewers for the contributory population of 20,000 is
1) 2.00
2) 2.25
3) 2.50
4) 3.00
Ans: 4

61. The tolerance limit of pH for industrial effluents discharged into inland surface waters
1) Less than 5.5
2) 5.5 to 9.0
3) Above 9.0
4) Must be 7 only
Ans: 2

62. Relationship involving voids ratio (e), degree of saturation (S), water content (w) and specific gravity of soil solids (G) is given by
1) wSe=G
2) we=SG
3) wS=Ge
4) wG=Se
Ans: 4

63. A clay soil sample has unconfined compression strengths in the undisturbed state and remoulded state are 200 kN/sq.m and 60 kN/sq.m respectively. Then its sensitivity is
1) 260
2) 140
3) 0.3
4) 3.33
Ans: 4

64. The core-cutter method for determining in-situ unit weight is suitable for
1) Soils containing gravel particles
2) Stiff clays
3) Soft cohesive soils
4) Sandy soils
Ans: 3

65. The average permeability for flow perpendicular to bedding planes when compared to the average permeability for the flow parallel to the bedding planes
1) Always less
2) Always greater
3) Always equal
4) Lesser or greater
Ans: 1

66. The earth pressure theory that is used for the design of cantilever retaining wall is
1) Meyerhof’s theory
2) Rankine’s theory
3) Terzagi’s theory
4) Skempton’s theory
Ans: 2

67.The diameter of longitudinal bars in a column should not be less than
(a) 8 mm (b) 10 mm (c) 12 mm (d) 16 mm Ans: C

68. Load carrying capacity of the foundation on sand, mainly depends upon
(a) length of the foundation (b) depth of foundation (c) breadth of foundation (d) size of foundation
Ans: D

69. The dry unit weight of a soil sample is 1.9 gm/cc and the specific gravity is 2.65, what will be the porosity of the soil ?
(a) 29.91% (b) 28.30% (c) 2.83% (d) None of these
Ans: B

70. The liquid limit and plastic limit of a soil are 35% and 15% respectively. If the flow index is 10%, then toughness index is
(a) 1.0 (b) 1.5 (c) 2.0 (d) 2.5
Ans: C

71. The liquid limit and plastic limit of a cohesive soil are determined in laboratory as 40% and 20% respectively. The plasticity index of the soil will be
(a) 10% (b) 20% (c) 30% (d) 40%
Ans: B

72. When water content in a soil is reduced beyond the shrinkage limit
(a) the total volume of soil will reduce. (b) the total volume of soil will remain constant.
(c) the total volume of soil will increase. (d) None of these
Ans: B

73. The permeability of cohesive soil is best determined by using
(a) Falling-head permeameter (b) Constant-head permeameter (c) Oedometer (d) None of these
Ans: A

74. The Darcy’s law states as
(a) V ∝ A
(b) V ∝ Q
(c) V ∝ h
(d) V ∝ i (Notations have their usual meaning)
Ans: D

75. The minimum number of longitudinal bars provided in RCC circular column is
(a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6 (d) 8 Ans: C

76. According to IS : 456 – 2000, side face reinforcement is provided in RCC beams, when depth of beam exceeds
(a) 450 mm (b) 750 mm (c) 1000 mm (d) 1250 mm
Ans: B

77. Sheep foot roller is mostly used for the compaction of which type of soil ?
(a) Clays (b) Silt (c) Sand (d) Gravel
Ans: A

78. A pile which obtains most of its load carrying capacity at the base of pile is known as
(a) end bearing pile (b) friction pile (c) composite pile (d) None of these
Ans: A

79. A soil has bulk density 2.3 g/cc and water content 15%. The dry density of the soil sample is
(a) 1.0 g/cc (b) 1.5 g/cc (c) 2.0 g/cc (d) 2.5 g/cc
Ans: C

80. Undisturbed soil sample is obtained by
(a) Direct excavation (b) Thin walled samplers (c) Thick walled samplers (d) Augers
Ans: B

81. The largest value of stability number for soil is
(a) 0.26 (b) 0.13 (c) 2 (d) 4
Ans: A

82. Maximum size of silt size particles as per I.S. classification is
(a) 0.425 mm (b) 2 mm (c) 0.75 mm (d) 0.075 mm
Ans: D

83. Lime stabilisation technique is very effective to improve properties of
(a) Silty soil (b) Sandy soil (c) Plastic clayey soil (d) Non-plastic soil
Ans: C

84. Coefficient of consolidation of a soil is affected by
(a) Compressibility (b) Permeability (c) (a) and (b) both (d) None of these
Ans: C

85. The action of negative skin friction on the pile is to
(a) increase the ultimate load on the pile (b) reduce the allowable load on the pile
(c) maintain the working load on the pile (d) reduce the settlement
Ans: B

86. Which test is carried out to determine the safe tension for a pile ?
(a) pull-out test (b) lateral load test (c) cyclic load test (d) none of these
Ans: A

87. The shear reinforcement in a reinforced concrete beam is provided to resists
(a) bending moment (b) compression force (c) diagonal compression (d) diagonal tension
Ans: D

88. As per IS : 456 – 2000, the minimum grade of concrete to be used in reinforced cement concrete is
(a) M5 (b) M10 (c) M20 (d) M25
Ans: C

89. In pre-stressed concrete member, it is advised to use
(a) low strength concrete only. (b) high strength concrete only.
(c) low strength concrete but high strength steel. (d) high strength concrete and high strength steel.
Ans: D

90. As per IS : 456-2000, the maximum spacing of shear reinforcement along the axis of the beam for vertical stirrups should be less than (a) 0.75 d (b) 0.80 d (c) 0.70 d (d) 0.75 D
(where D is total depth of beam and d is effective depth of beam)
Ans: A

91. A pycnometer is used to determine
(a) Void ratio (b) Dry density (c) Water content (d) Density index
Ans: C

92. The maximum pressure which a soil can carry without shear failure is called
(a) Safe bearing capacity (b) Net safe bearing capacity (c) Net ultimate bearing capacity (d) Ultimate bearing capacity
Ans: A

93. Under-reamed piles are generally
(a) Driven piles (b) Bored cast-in situ piles (c) Precast piles (d) None of these
Ans: B

94. By means of compaction, the following properties of the soil increase :
(a) mass density (b) shear strength (c) stability (d) All of these
Ans: D

95. In friction piles, the load is transferred through
(a) skin friction (b) their bottom tips (c) (a) and (b) both (d) None of these
Ans: A

96. Trapezoidal combined footings are required when
(a) the space outside the exterior column is limited. (b) the exterior column is heavier. (c) Both (a) and (b) (d) None of the above
Ans: C

97. The formwork including the props can be removed from beams only after
(a) 1 day (b) 3 days (c) 4 days (d) 14 days Ans: D

98. Undisturbed soil samples are required for conducting
(a) Hydrometer test (b) Shrinkage limit test (c) Consolidation test (d) Specific gravity test
Ans: C

99. The critical gradient for all soils is normally
(a) 0.5 (b) 1.0 (c) 1.5 (d) 2.5
Ans: B

100. The maximum area of tension reinforcement in beams should not exceed
(a) 0.15% (b) 1.5% (c) 4% (d) 1%
Ans: C