HGE – CE Board November 2023
1.​ A triaxial shear test was performed on a
well-drained sand sample. The normal
stress on the failure plane and the
shearing stress on the failure plain were
determined to be 63 kPa and 42 kPa,
respectively.
a.​ Determine the angle of internal
friction of the sand, in degrees
b.​ Determine the angle, in degrees,
of the failure plane with respect
to the horizontal plane.
c.​ Determine the axial stress
applied to the specimen, in kPa
b.​ Evaluate the discharge in the
canal in m3/sec
c.​ What would have been the
depth of the canal, in meters,
using the more economical
proportions but adhering to
the same discharge and
slope
2.​ A barge weighing 350 kN when empty is
6 m. wide, 15 m. long and 3 m. high.
Floating upright, evaluate the draft of the
barge in meters when transporting 5000
bags of cement along a river, each bag
having a mass of 40 kg. Assume the
specific gravity of the water in the river
to be 1.02
4.​ A
concrete dam of trapezoidal
cross-section with one face vertical has
a thickness of 0.60 m. at the top and 4.2
m. at the bottom. It is 7 m. high and has
a horizontal base. The vertical face is
subjected to a water pressure, the water
standing 6 m. above the base. The
weight of concrete is 24 kN/m3 per meter
length of dam, evaluate:
a.​ The total hydrostatic force on the
dam in kN
3.​ A rectangular irrigation canal 6 m. wide
contains water 1m. deep. It has a
hydraulic slope of 0.001 and a
roughness coefficient of 0.013
a.​ Evaluate the mean velocity of
the water in the canal in m/s
b.​ The resisting moment of the dam
to overturning in kN.m.
HGE – CE Board November 2023
c.​ Factor
of
safety
against
overturning
5.​ A rectangular gate 1.2 m. by 3 m. is
acted by water on one side and is
positioned with its longer sides parallel
to the water surface and the plane of the
gate is inclined at 60° with the
horizontal. The top of the gate is
submerged 2 m. vertically below the
water surface.
a.​ Evaluate the total hydrostatic
force on the gate.
b.​ Locate the point of action of the
total hydrostatic force from the
bottom of the plane of the gate.
c.​ If the gate is hinged at the
bottom, evaluate the force
normal to the gate at its vertex
that will be required to open it in
kN.
6.​ A specimen of clay under tri-axial shear
test was consolidated under a chamber
confining pressure of 100 kPa. The axial
stress on the specimen was then
increased and failure occurred when the
axial stress reached 200 KPa. Estimate
the angle of internal friction of the clay in
degrees.
7.​ A clay layer 5 m. thick rests beneath a
deposit of submerged sand 8 m. thick.
The top of the sand is located 3 m.
below the surface of a body of water.
The saturated unit weight of the sand is
25 kN/m³, and the clay is 20 kN/m.
a.​ Evaluate
the total vertical
pressure at mid- height of the
clay layer in kPa.
b.​ Evaluate the pore water pressure
at mid- height of the clay layer in
kPa.
c.​ Obtain the intergranular stress or
effective stress at mid-height of
the clay in kPa.
8.​ In a triaxial shear test of a cohesionless
soil, the soil cylinder was subjected to a
liquid pressure of 20 kPa inside the
chamber. It was observed that failure of
the sample in shear occurred when the
axial comressive stress reached 44 kPa.
The angle of internal friction in degrees
is nearest to.
HGE – CE Board November 2023
9.​ A triangular gate or height 12 m and
base 0.9 m is installed in a position that
its plane is inclined 60 degrees with the
horizontal with its vertex at the top and
the base is parallel to the water surface.
The vertex is at a depth of 2 m vertically
below the water surface. Fresh water is
on one side of the gate.
a.​ Evaluate the total hydrostatic force
on the gate in kN.
b.​ Locate the point of action of the total
hydrostatic force from the vertex on
the plane on the gate.
c.​ If the gate is hinged at the bottom,
evaluate the force normal to the gate
at its vertex that will be required to
open it in kN.
10.​In a triangular channel section, the most
economical section is achieved when
slopping sides make an angle of ___
with vertical
a.​ 90o
b.​ 30o
c.​ 60o
d.​ 45o
11.​A granular soil deposit is considered
medium if the blow count of a standard
penetration test is between:
12.​Evaluate the plastic settlement, in
meter(s), on a layer of plastic clay due to
an increase of pressure caused by loads
above it under the following conditions:
●​ Initial intergranular pressure =
200kPa
●​ Increase
in
intergranular
pressure = 120 kPa
●​ Thickness of the clay layer = 8 m
●​ Coefficient of consolidation =
0.315
●​ Void ratio of the clay = 1.132
13.​According to Westerguard Theory, the
vertical stress at a point below the
surface of a semi-infinite, homogeneous,
isotropic soil mass due to appoint load A
applied at the ground surface is given by
the equation:
Evaluate the vertical stress, in kPa, at a
point below the ground for Q = 1500 kN
if:
a.​ The point is 2 m. directly below the
point of the load
b.​ The point is 4 m. directly below the
point of the load
c.​ The point is 4 m. below the load but
2m. horizontally from the application
of the load
14.​A
concrete dam of trapezoidal
cross-section is shown in T = 1 m, B =
4.30 m, H = 9 m, and h = 6 m. The
weight of concrete is 24 kN/m3. For the
given conditions, evaluate:
a.​ The total hydrostatic force on the
dam in kN per meter length
b.​ The resisting moment of the dam to
overturning in kN.m., per metr length
of the dam
c.​ Factor of safety against sliding if the
coefficient of friction between the
supporting ground and concrete is
0.50
HGE – CE Board November 2023
17.​A woman with a glass of water having a
height of 300 mm is inside the elevator
with a downward acceleration of 3 m/s2.
Determine the pressure at the bottom of
the glass.
15.​ A closed cylindrical tank 4 m long
having radius of 1.5 m is fully filled with
water is placed on a car moving at an
acceleration of 2.5 m/s2. How much
force is acting on the back side of the
tank?
18.​A thick layer of clay underlies a sand
formation having a thickness of 5 m. the
ground water is located 2 m. below the
ground surface. Specific gravity of sand
and clay is 2.65 with sand having an
average void ratio of 0.52. the clay has a
water content of 42%
a.​ Compute the saturated unit weight of
clay
b.​ Compute the total stress at a depth
of 10 m. below the ground surface
c.​ Compute the effective stress at a
depth of 10 m. below the ground
surface
16.​An isosceles triangular plate of height
480 mm and base 200 mm is vertically
submerged in water with its vertex at the
liquid surface and the base is parallel to
the liquid surface
a.​ Evaluate the total force acting on
one side of the plate in kN
b.​ Obtain the location of the force from
the center of the gravity of the plate
in mm
c.​ Obtain the location of the force from
the liquid surface in mm.
19.​ 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 12 kN/m3
20.​What test
laboratory?
is
not
performed
a.​ Direct shear test
b.​ Triaxial shear test
c.​ Unconfined compression test
in
HGE – CE Board November 2023
d.​ Vane test
21.​A triangular gate having horizontal base
1.0 m long and an altitude of 1.5 m is
inclined at 45o from the vertical with the
vertex pointing upward. The vertex of
the gate is 2.4 m vertically below the
surface of the water
a.​ Evaluate the total force on the gate,
in kN
b.​ Locate the point of action of the total
force from the bottom of the gate
along its plane in meter(s)
c.​ What normal force, in kN, must be
applied at the vertex of the gate to
open it if it is hinged at the base?
22.​From a nozzle of diameter 30 mm, water
flows out vertically under a constant
head of 25 m. The coefficient of velocity
and the coefficient of discharge of the
issuing jet are equal to 0.98. Evaluate at
what constant height, in meters,
vertically from the tip of the nozzle,
would the jet of water support a load of
300 N.
23.​Which is not a characteristic of soil mass
a.​ Gas
b.​ Porosity
c.​ Void ratio
d.​ None of these
24.​In an open tube, what is the shape of a
mercury?
a.​ Curved up
b.​ Curved down
c.​ Horizontal
d.​ Vertical