KAPLAN Ppi Pe Structural Reference Manual, 10th Edition - Complete Review for the Ncees Pe Structural Engineering (Se) Exam

The Serm is a good book for preparing for both PE and SE exams. This is just a summary of some important topics so Make sure you supplement it with other detailed structural Engineering books.

I just took my exam 3 days ago so I wanted to write this review while it's still fresh in my mind. Overall, this book is extremely helpful and well worth the money. If you don't know how to begin in studying for the SE exam, this book will get you started on the right track. This was my main study guide for the exam and got priority seating on the table during the examination. One of the first things Alan Williams tells you in this book is that an effective study session should take about 300 hours! This is no joke! The exam covers so much information that I don't know how you could do a thorough study session with any less.My main gripes with the book were related to the fact that there was no cold-formed steel review section and that the Bridge Section of the book was really skimpy. You could tell that this book really catered to building design. If you don't know the AASHTO code, this book will not suffice as a sole-source bridge study guide. It should have put more emphasis on live load distribution analysis. It also didn't even mention wind loads or stream load pressures on bridge piers, design or analysis of abutments or columns. Also, AASHTO has its own unique way of analyzing soil retaining structures which wasn't mentioned in this book. In actuality, the bridge section probably needed to be 3 times bigger than the book allotted for. Fortunately, I am a bridge engineer so I was familiar with all this stuff. I can only imagine what other people who don't know AASHTO were thinking.UPDATE: I should note that despite with the issues I had with the Bridge Section of the text, the very simple design examples the author uses to explain how to run hand calculations for seismic analysis on a multi-span bridge using the Uniform Elastic Method and Single Mode Elastic Method couldn't have been better! The AASHTO code shows the formulas but they are utterly indiscernible to anyone that hasn't actually utilized them before. Once you truly understand these methods, you quickly realize that you can apply the theory to different span configurations and varying column heights and stiffnesses. I feel compelled to say that these example problems helped me TREMENDOUSLY when taking the afternoon portion of the lateral exam.UPDATE: It's been 2 years since I passed my exam and I still use this book in actual practice. Hang on to this one. It has a real practical application.

I already knew I liked the book, but the book was in great condition when I received it. No complaints.

Probably one of the best purchases I have done. All the important stuff in one place with some really good examples. The book is a reference but it can still be used for studying a subject for the first time. I didn’t know much about wood design and this gave me some basic info for PE wood design. I have the same authors steel design book which is not the best when it comes to theory but it’s good for a quick review.

An excellent resource. I purchased as part of my study/resource kit for the civil PE exam: structural afternoon session. It pairs well with the CE Reference Manual, which also has a good structural section. It should be noted that the SERM does not have a lot of the statics/base level structural information that you might be looking for...the SERM assumes that you have a solid working knowledge of determinate and some indeterminate statics. If you don't, the CERM is a good resource to pair with the SERM.