A Book By Thomas Britto

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
CIVIL ENGINEERING

Technical and Practical

Questions and Answers
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Q&A CONTENTS
1. CONSTRUCTION
2. ROAD WORKS
3. BRIDGE WORKS

4. PILE AND FOUNDATION

5. ENVIRONMENT & WATER RESOURCES
6. RENEWABLE ENERGY

Civil Engineering
Technical Interview Questions
 1. CONSTRUCTION

1. What are the functions of ties in coloum or beams?

Ties or Rings are commonly used in columns or beams
To avoid buckling of columns or beams
To bind or hold the reinforcement bars properly in position
And to resist against the shear failure.
2. What is the minimum and maximum percentage of steel required in
column?
In columns, the reinforcement ratio is totally depending on the stresses
developing in the structures. The maximum and minimum reinforcement
ratio are
Longitudinal Reinforcement – For cross sectional area of longitudinal
reinforcement
Minimum Reinforcement = 0.8%
Maximum reinforcement = 6%
Average 4% is provided in the field works but the amount of steel is different
for different RCC structures as per the stress developed in it.
3. Why steel is used as reinforcement in concrete?
Due to the following reasons: -
Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension. Thus, we use steel as
reinforcement to make the concrete strong in compression as well as in
tension. If we only use steel, the structure becomes expansive. If we only use
concrete, the structure becomes weak. Therefore, for safe and economical
structure we have to use steel with concrete.
Another main reason for the use of steel is that the coefficient of thermal
expansion of steel as well as of concrete is almost same, so the bond between
them didn’t break on expansion and contraction. If we use any other material,
due to the difference in thermal coefficient they lose out their bond at the
time of expansion and contraction.
Steel is ductile material and concrete is brittle in nature, thus stopping any
sudden failure.
4. Is there any difference between reinforcement and steel?
Yes, Steel is a metal and when we use it with concrete then it is known as
reinforcement. It is widely used with concrete because coefficient of thermal
expansion if steel and concrete is approximately same otherwise, we can go
for other reinforcing material like aluminum, brass, bamboo etc. Currently
rigorous research is being conducted to replace steel by some other material
like bamboo, because it is economic and environment friendly.
5. How the Water-Cement ratio effect the strength of concrete.
Water-cement ratio is inversely proportional to strength of concrete so on the
increase of water- cement ratio, the strength of concrete decreases. Water to
cement ratio is defined as the mass of water to that of cement in the concrete
mix. Generally, w/c ratio taken as 0.3 to 0.6. If the w/c ratio is on the higher
side, some water will still be left after hydration process. This water will
gradually evaporate, leaving some voids in the concrete block and the
presence of voids results in greatly reduced strength.
6. What is the effect of mild rust or corrosion on the bond performance
of bar reinforcement?
Rusting of steel is not always bad if it is very mild or in limit. If there is only
very little rusting the bond strength or bond performance depends on the type
of bas reinforcement under consideration.
For Plain round bars – Here the bond got its strength from adhesion and
interface friction between concrete and steel. The rust on plain round bars
improves the bond performance by the formation of rough surfaces which
increase the friction between steel and concrete.
For Deformed bars – Here the bond got its strength by mechanical lock
formed due to ribs on steel. The rust on deformed bars weakens the bond
performance by filling the gap between the ribs and evening out the original
deformed shape.
7. What is concrete spalling?
Concrete spalling is break away of concrete surface so that the steel inside it,
is exposed. It typically begins when the steel reinforcing embedded within
the concrete member rusts. Contrary of popular belief, concrete is porous. So,
when steel exposed to air and water, a chemical reaction takes place where
iron oxide (rust) is produced. The production of iron oxide includes a
volumetric expansion of the bar by up to 6 times the original volume. These
expansive forces can cause the concrete to delamite or to crack, spall and
break off.
NOTE
Spall - A spall is defined as flakes of material that are broken off of a larger
solid body.
8. What are the stages of concreting?
Stages of concreting are:
a. Batching,
b. Mixing,
c. Transportation,
d. Placing,
 e. Compaction,
f. Finishing and
g. Curing,
9. What are the constituents of concrete and their functions in concrete?
Major Constituents of concrete are following: -
a. Cement - is the binding material. After addition of water it hydrates
and binds aggregates and the surrounding surfaces and fills the voids
between aggregates (coarse as well as fine aggregate)
b. Fine Aggregate - fine aggregates fills voids present in coarse
aggregates and reduces shrinkage & cracking,
c. Coarse Aggregate - Coarse aggregates increases the crushing
strength of concrete, makes concrete solid hard mass, reduces cost of
concrete by occupying major volume in concrete.
d. Water - Water is needed for the hydration of cement but not all is
used up for this purpose. Part of this added water is to provide
workability during mixing and for placing.
10. What is the meaning of 33, 43 and 53 grade of ordinary Portland
cement?
Digits 33, 43 and 53 represents 28 days compressive strength in N/mm2 of
standard cube of face area 50 sq.cm made up of cement mortar 1:3.
11. Which properties of concrete are based on Volume Change?
Two major types of volume change of interest to civil engineers are creep and
shrinkage. Creep is the increase in strain due to sustained constant load. In
most structures above ground, creep is taking place under drying conditions.
Drying out of water from the interior of concrete leads to shrinkage.
12. What are the concerns if the concrete structure is built nearby
seawater?
As we know, seawater contains a number of dissolved salts which affect our
structure physically and chemically. But the main durability concern for
structures nearby seawater is the corrosion of the reinforcement resulting
from chloride ingress. Mainly due to splash and tidal zones. To be durable
under seawater exposure conditions, concrete must have an adequate cover
and low permeation properties with the appropriate choice of cementitious
materials. Seawater should never be used as mixing water for the production
of reinforced or prestressed concrete structures.
13. Which cement you will use in mass concreting like dams?
Low heat cement should be use for mass concreting to prevent development
of cracks. In this cement the rate of development of strength is low but 28
days strength is same as ordinary Portland cement.
14. Why hydraulic lime is preferable for underwater construction?
Hydraulic lime provides a faster initial set and higher compressive strength in
a very short time and eminently hydraulic lime will set in more extreme
conditions like underwater constructions.
15. What are the criteria to decide the size of coarse aggregate in
concreting?
Size of aggregate is governed by following
a. Size of Structural member – Aggregate should go to each corner of
member and cover reinforcement completely.
b. Distance between two main bars – Aggregate should be small
enough so that it can pass through the distance between two main
bars. Due to this reason, it is kept 5 mm less than the distance
between two main bars.
c. Minimum Cover – Size of aggregate should be 5 mm less to
minimum nominal cover. If aggregate size is more than the nominal
cover provided for member, then there is possibility of exposure of
reinforcement to environment.
In general, 20 mm nominal size coarse aggregate is used for most if the work
but in case of massive concreting, like dam’s construction, 40 mm and even
higher size can be used. For extremely thin slab, 10 mm nominal size
aggregate is used for better finish.
16. Inspite of minimum voids, why rounded aggregates are not
preferable?
The rounded aggregate has minimum voids and minimum ratio of surface
area to volume, thus requiring minimum cement paste to make good concrete
but due to absence of interlocking, these aggregates are not suitable for high
strength concrete.
17. Which type of water is preferable for mixing and curing of concrete?
Water used for mixing and curing shall be clean and free from injurious
amounts of oils, acids, alkalies, salts, sugar, organic materials etc. Potable
water is preferable. The pH value of water shall not be less than 6. Sea water
is also not preferable because of presence of harmful salts in sea water. Water
found satisfactory for mixing is also suitable for curing of concrete.
18. How the entrainment of Air affects the concrete?
Air-Entrainment improves durability, workability and plasticity but it have an
adverse effect on the strength of concrete. The decrease in strength is usually
proportional to the amount of entrained air. For each percent increase in air
content, the compressive strength reduces approximately by 1.4 MPa.
19. What is the characteristic strength of concrete?
The characteristic strength of concrete is the strength of material below which
not more than 5% of the test results are expected to fall. It is denoted by
“fck”.
20. What is concrete mix design?
Concrete mix design is the calculation of proportion of constituent elements
(like cement, coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, water and sometime admixture
also) to achieve desired degree of workability of fresh concrete and desired
strength, durability, surface finish of hardened concrete.
21. What are some underwater concreting techniques?
a. Tremie pipe method
b. Direct placement with pumps
c. Drop bottom bucket
d. Grouting
22. What do you mean by tread riser staircase?
A staircase without any waist slab is called tread riser staircase. In this type
of staircase, only riser and tread are provided so they are called tread riser
staircase. They are also known as straight staircase.
23. What are the situations in which doubly reinforced concrete beams
are necessary?
When the bending moment required to be resisted is more than the moment
of resistance of a balanced section of singly reinforced beam of given size,
then we have two alternatives:
a. To use an over-reinforced section or,
b. To use doubly reinforced section.
An over reinforced section is always uneconomical and also undesirable
because of sudden failure probability. Also, the increase in the moment of
resistance is not in proportion to the increase in the area of tensile
reinforcement. The reason behind this is that the concrete, having reached
maximum allowable stress, cannot take more additional load without adding
compression steel. Thus, its better to provide doubly reinforced section.
24. What is the role of compression steel in concrete?
The steel reinforcement provided in the compression zone is subjected to
compressive stress. However, concrete undergoes creep strains due to
continued compressive stress, which the result that the strain in concrete goes
on increasing with time. This increases compressive strain in steel in addition
to creep stain in compressive steel. Thus, the total compressive strain in
compressive steel will be much greater than the strain surrounding concrete
due to flexural alone. Thus, compressive steel takes up all the additional
compressive stress beyond the permissible compressive stress for concrete
making the section safe against failure in flexure.
25. Corrosion of reinforcement in reinforced concrete construction is
manner of serious concern to civil engineers. Explain some of the
provisions made in code (such as IS 456-2000) to address this problem
during design and construction of structures likely to be subjected to
such deterioration.
In general, concrete provides a high degree of protection to steel against
corrosion due to alkaline environment provided by concrete. Also, well-
proportioned concrete has very low permeability for oxygen, chloride ions,
carbon-di-oxide and water etc.
As per codal provisions,
a. For RCC members, totally immersed in sea water, the over should
be increased by 40 mm beyond what is specified for normal
conditions. However, the total cover should not exceed 75 mm.
b. Chloride ions in concrete should be limited to its critical value. As
per IS;456, total chloride in concrete equal to or less than 0.15
percent by mass of cement in concrete. For prestressed concrete this
limit is 0.06 percent.
c. In excessively aggressive environment, where cover and concrete
quality cannot be assumed, special protection system are used.
Corrosion inhibits can also be added in concrete.
26. What do you understand by guniting?
It is the most effective process of repairing concrete work which has been
damaged. It is also used for providing impervious layer. Gunite is a mixture
of cement and sand, the usual proportion is 1:3. A cement gun is used to
deposit this mixture on the concrete surface under pressure of 2 to 3 kg/cm2.
27. What do you mean by post-tensioning?
A member is referred as post-tensioned member, if the tendons are stressed
and anchored at each end of the member after the concrete has been cast and
attained sufficient strength to withstand the prestressing force.
28. What is the role of tendons in pre-tensioning?
The tendon provides a pre compression force to reduce cracking under
service load and also serves as tension reinforcement under the ultimate load
condition. The integrity of the grout duct and the surrounding concrete
governs the corrosion protection of the high-strength, low ductility steel
tendon. Grouting also helps to avoid fatigue failure in the steel at the
anchorages.
29. What are the various conditions which meet the prestressing force?
The prestressing force must meet two conditions:
 a. It must provide sufficient compressive stress to offset the tensile
stresses which will be caused by the bending moments.
b. It must not induce either tensile or compressive stresses which are in
excess of those permitted by the specifications.
30. What is pervious concrete?
Pervious concrete is a new type of concrete that has a porous structure which
allows water to pass through it directly. This porosity is achieved without
compromising the strength, durability or integrity of the concrete structures
itself. The pavement is comprised of a special blend of Portland cement,
coarse aggregate and water. Once dried the pavement has a porous texture
that allows water to drain through it at the rate of 30 litre to 45 litre per
minute per square foot. This type of concrete can be very useful in paving,
parking, walkways etc. and for ground water table recharge.
31. What are general uses of admixtures?
Admixtures are chemicals which are added to concrete at the mixing stage to
modify some of the properties of the concrete mix. Some of the general uses
are
To adjust workability,
To adjust setting time,
To reduce segregation and bleeding,
To improve permeability,
To accelerate the rate of strength development,
To reduce the total cost of the material used in concrete,
To minimize the water content of concrete etc.
31. What is the difference between fasteners, bolts and screws?
Fasteners is a general term to describe something which is used to restraint
for holding things together or attaching to other things. The main physical
difference between screws and bolts is that the screws are entirely full of
threads while bolts contain shanks without threads. However, a better
interpretation of differences between the two is that the bolts are always fitted
with nuts, on the contrary, screws are normally used with tapped holes.
32. What are the functions of the washers in bolting system?
The purpose of installing washers in a typical bolting system is to distribute
the loads under bolt heads and nuts by providing a larger area under stress.
Otherwise, the bearing stress of bolts may exceed the bearing strength of the
connecting materials and this leads to loss of preload of bolts and creeping of
materials, Alternatively, flanged fasteners instead of using washers could be
adopted to achieve the same purpose.
33. What do you understand by fatigue?
Fatigue is a phenomenon that occurs under the action of cycling loads. It is
found that the behaviour4 of materials are different under the static and
dynamic lading. If static load is applied, the component is designed by the
yield strength (for ductile material) or by ultimate strength (for brittle
material) but if load is variable, then the component is designed by the
Endurance limit, because in cyclic loading or reverse loading, if total
accumulated strain energy exceeds the toughness, then fracture failure may
occur.
“Endurance limit – is that stress below which a material has high probability
of no failure even at infinite number of load cycles. For mild steel endurance
limit is 186 N/sq.mm and for aluminum endurance limit is 131 N/sq.mm
Endurance limit is lower than proportional limit”
Factors affecting fatigue are
a. Loading condition
b. Frequency of loading
c. Corrosion
d. Temperature
e. Stress concentration
The number of load cycle required to initiate surface crack is called fatigue
initiation life and additional number of load cycle required to propagate
surface crack is called fatigue propagation life.
Examples of fatigue failure
a. Crashing of aircraft due to crack in turbine blade
b. Failure of fly wheel
c. Braking of wire due to cyclic bending.
34. What is proof stress?
Some material like (Al, Cu, Ag) doesn’t show yield point, for such materials
an offset method is used for calculating the design stress. It is called proof
stress. It is not a property of material and only used for calculation purpose.
35. What is the effect of carbon percentage on different properties of
materials?
By increasing the carbon percentage – yield strength, ultimate strength, wear
resistance, resilience, stiffness and cost of material increases.
By decreasing the carbon percentage – ductility, toughness, formability,
flexibility, malleability is increases.
36. What is Portland pozzolana cement?
In pozzolanic material, cilicious and aluminous compounds are present which
don not have its own cementing properties but in presence of water it reacts
with calcium hydroxide (release during hydration of cement) and form
cementing particles. Materials like fly ash, rice husk ash, meta kaoline (type
of clay) etc. have the pozzolanic properties.
PPC is manufactured by integrating of Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
clinker with 10% to 30% of pozzolanic material.
Properties of PPC -
a. It is a low heat cement.
b. This cement is more resistance against sulphate attack.
c. It offers less permeability.
37. Which is the chief ingredient for a good earth brick and its function?
Silica is the chief ingredient of a good brick. A content of about 50 to 60% is
necessary to form the brick of good quality. It imparts strength, durability and
uniform shape to bricks. It prevents cracking and shrinking of earth brick but
if it is in excess then it destroys the cohesion between particles and the brick
become brittle.

38. Name some important stones with their suitability criteria in

construction work.
a. Granite – used for pier and abutments
b. Marble – used for ornamental works
c. Sandstones – used for ashlar masonry and architectural works.
d. Limestones – used for architectural work in wall, façade etc.

39. How can we understand the age of trees?

Every year, trees form new cells arranged in concentric circles call annual
growth rings which are used to understand the age of trees.
40. What is seasoning of timber?
It is the process by which the moisture content of timber is reduced to a
suitable level depending upon the use. Timber should be seasoned as early as
possible after felling because felled timber is nothing but dead vegetation that
will rot and decay due to many environmental agencies. Once the moisture
content is brought down to safe limits further safety lies in proper care in use
and prevention. Seasoning cannot entirely stop shrinkage and swelling if the
timber is exposed to saturated air conditions, but seasoning does reduce this
tendency and also ensures freedom from many other agencies causing decay.
41. What are the characteristics of good bricks?
a. The bricks should be table moulded, well burnt in kilns, copper
coloured, free from cracks and with sharp and square edges.
b. When brick scratched with finger nail, no impression should be left.
c. The colour should be uniform and bright.
d. the bricks when broken or fractured should show a bright,
homogeneous and uniform compact structure, free from voids.
e. The brick should not absorb water more than 20% by weight for first
class bricks and 22% by weight for second class bricks, when
soaked in cold water for a period of 24 hours.
f. When bricks soaked in water for 24 hours, should not show deposits
of white salts when allowed to dry in shade.
g. No brick should have the crushing strength below 5.5 MPa.
42. What is Fiber Reinforced Concrete?
Fiber reinforced concrete is a composite material consisting of mixtures of
cement, mortar or concrete and discontinuous, discrete, uniformly dispersed
suitable fibers.
Plain concrete possesses a very low tensile strength, limited ductility and
little resistance to cracking. Internal microcracks are inherently present in the
concrete and its poor tensile strength is due to the propagation of such
microcracks, eventually leading to brittle facture of the concrete. It has been
recognized that the admission of small, closely spaced and uniformly
dispersed fibers to concrete would act as crack arrester and would
substantially improve its static and dynamic properties. This type of concrete
is known as fiber reinforced concrete.
43. What is ferrocement?
Ferrocement is a type of thin reinforced concrete construction where cement
mortar matrix is reinforced with many layers of continuous and relatively
small diameter wire mesh.
While the mortar provides the mass, the wire mesh imparts tensile strength
and ductility to the material.
In terms of structured behaviour, ferrocement exhibits very high tensile
strength to weight ratio and superior anti cracking performance. Moreover,
many other engineering properties such as toughness, fatigue resistance,
impermeability, etc. are also considerably improved.
44. What is Pozzolanic Action?
A pozzolana is a finely ground silicious glass material which as such doesn’t
posses cementitious property in itself, but reacts in the presence of water with
lime at normal temperature to form compounds of low solubility having
cementitious properties. This action is called pozzolanic action.
45. What is quality management system?
Quality management system is the system which includes or refers to quality
planning, quality assurance and quality control. The main goal of QMS in
construction industry is to ensure that construction projects are successfully
completed within the constraints of best quality, stated period and at minimal
possible cost.
QMS definition – All activities of the overall management function that
determine the quality policy, objectives and responsibilities, and implement
them by means such as quality planning, quality control, quality assurance
and quality improvement within the quality system.
46. How will you assure the quality control and quality assurance of
concrete repair work?
Quality assurance and quality control in concrete repair works are important
to regain the lost strength in concrete due to cracks or other damages.
The reason for damages can be over-stressing, poor construction practices,
environmental exposure, chemical attacks or the durability loss of concrete
member etc.
Here we require QA for the proper monitoring and evaluation of different
aspects of repair work to make sure the quality standards are met and need
QC to confirm that the materials used and repair techniques meet project
satisfaction.
The concrete repair involves replacing, restoring or renewing of old or
damaged concrete. The need for repair can vary from time to time depending
on structural requirement or type of damages in the structural member.
47. What are the responsibilities of QA/QC engineer in construction?
Responsible of documentation related to QA/QC of the complete project
including certificates, test results, calibration, inspection requests, checklists
etc.
Accountable for the quality and workmanship of every activity.
Develop and determine all standards to perform inspection and tests on all
procedures and oversee all testing methods and maintain high standards of
quality for all purposes.
Maintain the quality of all materials at the site.
Supervision of the testing procedure and inspection schedule and ensure
adherence to all procedures.
Coordinate with employees to ensure knowledge of all the quality standards
and collaborate with contractors and suppliers to maintain the quality of all
systems.
Handle the efficient storage of all hazardous materials and perform quality
audits as per the required schedule.
Monitor an efficient system and record for all project activities and analyze
all processes to ensure all work according to quality requirements.
Report to the QA/QC manager, control and monitor all activities related to
quality.
48. What is concrete cover and why we use it. What if we provide
concrete cover more than specified value?
Concrete cover is the distance from the reinforcement surface to the concrete
surface.
Use – Concrete cover is mainly provided to protect the reinforcement from
corrosion and fire as well as it provides the bars sufficient embedment to
enable them to be stressed without bond failure.
Tolerance of concrete cover is between +5 mm and -5 mm. if we increase
depth of the concrete cover more than the specified value than it is good from
corrosion and fire protection point of view but it also increases the chances of
cracks in concrete. Therefore, closely spaced bars give narrower cracks than
widely spaced bars with larger cover. Hence, increment in concrete cover will
also lead to increment in cracks which is undesirable.
49. What do you do if the cube is failed after 28 days?
In that case we need to do some tests on laid concrete to check the
compressive strength because may be the cube filling have not been
appropriate due to poor workmanship. Generally, we do rebound hammer test
when the concrete cube fails but it didn’t provide proper result about the
strength of concrete as it is only for checking the hardness of concrete or
surface strength. But if hammer test is also failed then go for ultrasonic test.
If this also fails then go for core cutter test and get the actual strength of laid
concrete.
If concrete fails in all of the tests then we have only two options that either
dismantle the whole concrete structure or strengthen it by some techniques.
Sometimes dismantling of complete structure makes the project
uneconomical. So, if you don’t want to dismantle the failed concrete structure
(it may increase the cost of the project but also strengthen the weak structure)
then we can use the techniques like fiber reinforced polymer (FPR) sheet
bonding, steel casing, pre-tensioned cables to the concrete or shotcreting etc.
50. How to maintain concrete quality or What steps should be taken to
achieve good quality of concrete.
Following steps are needed to be eyed to get the good quality concrete: -
a. Material Selection
b. Concrete production
c. Workmanship and curing

The initial step is to determine the type and properties of constituent material
like cement, aggregates, water etc. Other factors such chemical admixtures
are interacting factors, must be considered collectively in mixture design.

The next step is the specification of production process. Selected material

should be in right proportion and properly mixed.

Finally, without workmanship and proper curing, we can’t achieve desired

quality of concrete. Workmanship relates to the degree of compaction and
surface finish that can be achieved. Curing promotes cement hydration. The
duration and type of curing techniques are critical parameters and must be
clearly defined.
51. What if we need to store the cement for long duration but as we know
that generally cement bags are best only for 3 months from the date of
manufacture.
In this case we use hydrophobic cement. This cement is manufactured by
integrating the OPC clinker with oleic acid and steric acid. These acids form
a water repellent film which reduces the tendency of cement particles to
absorb moisture from atmosphere.
52. What are the objectives of curing?
a. To ensure degree of hydration is sufficient to reduce the porosity
to a level such that the desired properties of concrete can be
attained.
b. To maintain a favorable concrete temperature for a definite
period of time.
c. To prevent the lose of moisture from concrete.
d. To reduce the shrinkage of concrete.
e. To prevent loss by evaporation.

53. Why minimum curing period is 7 days for OPC.

As per IS-456, concrete curing continue at least 7 days or untill 70% to 80%
of the specified compressive or flexural strength is attained (whichever is
longer) for the temperature above 50 C (400 F). the curing period can be
reduced to 3 days if high early strength concrete is used and the temperature
is above 10o C (50o F). The code also states that the ordinary Portland cement
needs a curing period of atleast 7 days and if blended cement is used, the
minimum curing period should be increased to 10 days. If the concrete is
cured less than 7 days, strength at 28 days will be quite less. Hence the
minimum curing period is 7 days for OPC.
54. What is the fastest way to cure concrete?
To fasten the concrete curing, the addition of an accelerating agent like
calcium chloride to the concrete mix before pouring would help concrete to
harden quickly. Steam curing is one of the curing methods than can cure
concrete fastly.
55. How long does concrete take to cure in cold weather?
If normal is used, the concrete structure like foundations need at least 20 days
to cure. However, high early strength cement concrete does not suffer from
freezing and thawing, hence require much lower duration to cure.
56. What is the purpose of conducting soundness test of cement?
It is very important that the cement after setting shall not undergo any
significant change of volume but certain cements have been found to undergo
a large expansion after setting causing disruption of the set and hardened
mass. This will decrease the durability of the concrete structures when such
cements are used. Thus, the soundness test of cement should be performed to
ensure that the cement does not show any significant expansion.
57. What are the various types of slumps in slump test.
True slump, shear slump and collapse slump are the three types of slumps
that may occur in slumps test
a. True slump – refers to general drop of the concrete mass evenly all
around without disintegration.
b. Shear Slump – implies that the concrete mix is deficient in cohesion
and undesirable for durability of concrete.
c. Collapse Slump – indicates that the mix is too wet and the mix to be
harsh and lean.
58. What are the functions of sand in mortar?
Sand has the following functions: -
a. Strength – Sand doesn’t give strength to the mortar but it helps in
adjustment of mortar strength due to change in its quantity.
b. Bulk – Sand helps in increasing the volume of mortar.
c. Surface area – Sand helps in dividing the mortar into different sub
layers thereby increasing the total surface arear over which mortar
can be applied.
d. Shrinkage – Sand helps in reducing the shrinkage of binding
material.

59. What type of error may occur in the placement of reinforcements?

In reinforced cement concrete, proper reinforcement fabrication is very
important. Some of the errors are
a. Improper spacing of the reinforcement,
b. Inadequate lap length,
c. Improper spacing of rings or stirrups,
 d. Concrete cover may not properly provided,
e. At the continuous edges of the slab, the discontinuity of
reinforcement may occur,
f. Improper anchorage or development length of the reinforcement,
g. Hooks are not properly provided in stirrups,
h. The use of rusted reinforcement in the construction,
i. Non uniform concrete cover of the reinforcement.
60. Explain some properties of metals.
Some properties of metals are
A. Ductility – is the property by which material can be stretched under tensile
load. Large deformations are thus possible in ductile materials before the
absolute failure or rupture take place. A material is called ductile if post
elastic strain (plastic strain) is more than 5%. Ductile materials are weakest in
shear, so engineer also concerned shear failure in ductile materials. Some of
the examples are mild steel, aluminum, Copper, Manganese, Lead, Nickel,
Brass, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum etc.
B. Brittleness – Lack of ductility is called brittleness i.e.; materials cannot be
stretched. Brittle material fails suddenly without any indication of yielding,
fracture take place immediately after elastic limit with a relatively smaller
deformation. For the brittle materials, fracture point and ultimate points are
same and after proportional limit very small strain is observed. Material is
called brittle if its post elastic strain is less than 5%. Examples are cast iron,
marvel, granite, concrete, glass etc.
Note – to distinguish between ductile and brittle materials, materials strain
less than 5% at fracture point are regarded as brittle and those having strains
greater than 5% at fracture point are called ductile (this value for mild steel at
fracture is about 25%.
C. Malleability – it is that property of metal due to which a piece of metal can
be converted into thin sheet under compression load. A malleable material
posse a high degree of plasticity. This property is of great use in operations
like hot rolling, forging etc.
D. Hardness – is resistance to the scratch or abrasion.
There are two methods of hardness measurements –
Scratch hardness is measured by Mohr’s test
Abrasion (Indentation hardness) measured by
Ø Brinell hardness method
Ø Vickers hardness method
Ø Rockwell hardness method
Ø Knoop hardness method
61. What do you understand by creep?
It is a material property, due to this material gets deform progressively at a
slow rate with time at constant stress.
Factors affecting creep are
a. Magnitude of load
b. Type of loading (static or dynamic)
c. Time or age of loading
d. Temperature
At higher temperature due to greater mobility of atoms, most of the materials
loose their strength and elastic constant also get reduced. Hence, greater
deformation at elevated temperature results even under constant loading.
Therefore, creep is more pronounced at higher temperature and thus it must
be considered for design of pressure vessel, aircraft wings, gas turbines etc.
as they are subjected to constant stress for a long period.
Temperature at which creep becomes intolerable is half of the melting point
temperature on absolute scale and known as homologous temperature.
62. What is proof stress?
Some of the ductile materials like Aluminum, Copper, Silver do not show
clear yield point in tension test. For such materials a offset method is used for
the calculation of design stress. An offset of permanent plastic strain equals
to 0.2% is marked on x-axis and a straight line is drawn which is parallel to
initial portion of stress-strain curve. The point of intersection of stress strain
curve with the straight line is proof point and corresponding stress at that
point is proof stress.
Proof stress is not a property of material. It is only used for the calculation
purposes.
63. Why generally strength of concrete is tested for 3,7,21 or 28 days?
As per the codes, compressive strength of the concrete is tested after 28 days
of casting and continuous curing because it gains approx. 99% of its strength
in 28 days.
Age in days Percentage of
strength
1 day 16%
3 days 40%
7 days 65%
14 days 90%
21 days 94%
28 days 99%

Whereas 3, 7, 14 and 21 days compressive strength test results are usually not
used for acceptance purpose but used for information only. These test results
are used to monitor the gain of strength and serves as a warning signal (if
fails to attain necessary compressive strength) to both concrete producers and
contractors, these in-between tests help to rectify the issue in concrete batches
and to produce good quality concretes in coming batches. Nowadays the
procedure of concrete manufacturing becomes tight as there is large amount
of capital is on stake, so it’s a good practice to test the concrete for in-
between days.
64. Why gypsum is added in cement?
Gypsum is a mineral and compound of crystallized calcium sulphate (CaSO4)
in chemical form and it is added in the cement at the time of manufacturing.
Gypsum helps in increasing the initial setting time of the cement. The setting
of cement is primarily because of tri-calcium-aluminate (C3A) because C3A is
fast reacting with water and lead to an immediate setting of paste which is
called flash set. So, at the time hydration of cement, gypsum reacts with C3A
immediately to produce calcium tri-sulfo-aluminate hydrate (ettringite) which
forms a protective coat on the cement particles and slow down the hydration
of tri-calcium-aluminate and increase the setting time. If gypsum is not
added, then the cement paste set immediately after mixing of water and leave
no time to place it. Nevertheless, gypsum also contribute for the strength
acceleration in the initial stages of hydration.
If we apply excessive amount of shuttering oil, what will be the potential
problems occur?
Generally shuttering oil is applied without any necessary precaution or
measurement but for a good quality of work it should be measured and
applied uniformly. If it is applied excessively then several problems occur
like
It left on the hardened concrete surface and stains it, which makes
the concrete not aesthetically appealing.
As because of excessive oil application, oil have nowhere to escape
so it is found out its way to go inside the concrete and form holes
and also because of its chemical nature, it mixes up with water and
bead up inside the concrete, which furtherly decrease the strength.
Excessive application of shuttering oil increases the cost for oil.
If the shuttering oil is of diesel-made, then we know that diesel-oil
evaporates rapidly which causes the environmental problems.
65. If you do concreting and just after it, rain comes, then how will rain
affect that freshly placed concrete?
As we know that how much the water-cement ratio is important for the
strength of concrete. On unprotective concrete, rain increases the water-
cement ratio of the top surface of concrete and make it weak. Also, if there
was enough rain falling, it washed some of the cement from the surface of
concrete, makes the surface weak and it might also generate the possibility of
dusting. Due to weak surface, hairline cracks may develop into it and also it
reduces the ability of the slab to resist cracking because of freeze-thaw cycle
and in long term, durability of the concrete may be decreased.
66. Why the curing time is different for the concrete as per the season?
Concrete is gaining its strength and hardness by the process of hydration.
Different seasons, demand a little extra planning and work because of
temperature change. The period of curing depends on the temperature
because the hydration process continuous for days and dependent on
temperature. Therefore, in winter the rate of hydration slows down and
require longer curing period whereas in summer, the rate of hydration o faster
so that a shorter curing period is enough for the concrete to gain its strength.
67. What is the difference between curing compound and sealing
compound?
Curing compounds are generally in liquid form used to reduce the loss of
water from the freshly placed concrete or green concrete in order to develop
ideal conditions that are favourable for the concrete to gain its strength. It is
applied after the completion of finishing of concrete to facilitate moisture
precision levels and corresponding temperature rates.
Sealing compounds are in liquid form applied on the hardened concrete
surface to retard the entrance of damaging material into the concrete like
deicing solutions, carbon-di-oxide, acids, water, etc. because these harmful
substances cause freeze-thaw damage, steel corrosion and acid attack.
Concrete sealers are applied only after the concrete has gained 28 days of
strength.
68. What are the plastic shrinkage cracks?
Plastic shrinkage cracks are the cracks which are developed before the
concrete setting, due to the rapid loss of water from concrete surface because
of the rate of evaporation of surface water is higher than the rate of
replacement of upward rising water, tensile forces is developed at concrete
surface when concrete starts to stiffen, causes plastic shrinkage cracks. These
cracks are shallow and generally parallel to each other with a spacing of
about 300 mm to 1 m, and do not intersect the edges of the concrete slab.
These cracks are unsightly but rarely impair the strength or durability of
concrete floors and pavements. High rate of evaporation mainly developed if
wind velocity is over 8 kmph, relative humidity is low or due to high
temperature. A slight change in these conditions can significantly change the
rate of evaporation. To minimize the effect of plastic shrinkage cracks some
rules should be followed like dampen the subgrade when conditions for high
evaporation rates exist, prevent surface evaporation by providing fog sprays
and erecting windbreaks, cover concrete with polyethylene sheets between
finishing operations, curing concrete properly as soon as finishing has been
completed.
69. What are Crazing cracks?
Crazing cracks are the network of fine random cracks developed on the
surface of the concrete, caused by shrinkage of surface layer. These cracks
are irregular hexagon patter and are rarely more than 3 mm deep. The cause
of crazing cracks is due to the shrinkage of concentrated dense cement paste
at the surface of concrete. Mainly crazing cracks can developed because the
rules of good concrete practices were not followed properly, like improper
curing, too wet mix a mix, use of steel trowel or improper finishing
operations, sprinkling cement on the surface to dry up the bleed water, are
some of the frequent cause of crazing. By following the good concrete
practices in proper way can minimize the crazing cracks significantly.
70. What are the causes of the cracks in concrete?
Some of the major causes are
a. Improper mixing of the raw materials
b. Quality of raw materials are not as per the standards,
c. Water-cement ratio is not as per the mix design,
d. Improper placement of reinforcement,
e. Concrete covers are not as per the standard,
f. Seasonal variation can also develop cracks,
g. Curing of concrete may not done properly,
h. Poor workmanship,
i. Concrete fall height for placing can be more,
j. Improper detailing in design etc.
71. What are some of the steps that can be taken to prevent the
formation of “Thermal Cracks” in mass concrete?
During concrete mixing, heat of hydration generated causing a rise in
concrete temperature. The temperature in the middle region of concrete is
often higher than the temperature at surface.
Due to the temperature gradient across the concrete thickness, the surface is
in tension and the concrete in the middle region is in compression. If overall
tensile strain which is maximum at the surface, exceeds the ultimate tensile
stress capacity of hardening concrete the cracks are likely to occur.
Such thermal cracking can be prevented by using low heat cement, using
pozzolanic admixtures, mixing ice with concrete to control the mixing
temperature etc. Non delaying the process of cooling, insulating the concrete
also helps in reducing thermal cracks.
72. Why River sand greater workability to concrete than crushed sand.
As we know that the river sand has rounded in shape whereas crushed sand is
angular flaky or elongated in shape. angular, flaky or elongated sand makes
the concrete hard and less workable when compared to rounded shaped sand
because for the given volume or weight, round shaped sand will have less
surface area and voids then the flaky or angular one and requires less cement
paste for lubrication. Also, river sand has less frictional resistance because of
its shape, that makes the concrete more workable.
The importance of shape of the aggregate will be of great significance in the
case of present-day high strength high performance concrete when we use
very low water-cement ratio in to of about 0.25. In the years to come, natural
sand will be exhausted or costly. One has to go for manufactured sand. Shape
of crushed sand available today is unsuitable but the modern crushers are
designed to yield well shaped and well graded aggregate.
73. What do you understand by honeycombing?
Honeycombing is the structural defect of concrete, for the areas on surface
where the coarse aggregates are prominently visible are called honeycombed
surface. It is also known as air pockets and created due to improper
compaction or may due to improper mix design. It decreases the strength of
concrete and make it structurally weak and will also provide the way to
harmful agents to penetrate inside the concrete. To minimize the effect of
honeycombing, concrete should be properly mixed as per mixed design,
thoroughly compacted and fully worked around the reinforcement and
corners.
74. What is bleeding in concrete and how to reduce it?
Bleeding is a defect of concrete. It is an autogenous flow of water with in the
concrete or emergence to the surface from the freshly placed concrete. It is
usually due to the excessive vibration imparted to the concrete and basically
this is caused due to less fine material in the mixture. It can be reduced by
using fine cement, dispersing or entraining agents, uniformly graded
aggregate, pozzolana material and a rich mix.
75. What is segregation and how to minimize it.
Segregation of concrete means separation of coarse aggregate from the fine
aggregate or separation of paste from coarse aggregate or separation of water
from the mix. In segregation, ingredients of the concrete mix are no longer
remain uniformly distributed. Main causes of segregation are dropping
concrete from height, improper design mix, concrete caried over long
distance etc. It can be minimized by increasing small size coarse aggregate,
using dispersing agents, pozzolana and air entrainers.
76. What are major lab tests of cement?
Following are the major lab tests: -
a. Chemical composition test
b. Standard consistency test
c. Initial and final setting time test
d. Compressive strength test
e. Tensile strength test
f. Soundness test
g. Fineness test
h. Specific gravity test
i. Heat of hydration test
77. How will you check whether the cement on site is good or not?
We can check the cement by doing some field tests like: -
a. Colour Test – cement should have uniform grey colour with a light
greenish shade.
 b. Adulteration test – the cement should feel smooth when rubbed in
between fingers.
c. Temperature test – thrust your hand into the cement bag and it
should give cool feeling. It indicates that there is no hydration
reaction is taking place in the bag.
d. Float test – throw handful of cement on water. It should float
initially before finally settling.
e. Lump test – the sample of the cement should be free from the
presence of lumps which are formed due to the absorption of
moisture.
f. Date of Packing – Strength of cement reduces with time. The
cement should be used before 90 days from the date of
manufacturing.
78. What are the qualities of a good building stone?
It should have the following qualities,
a. Crushing strength should be greater or equal to 100 N/sqmm.
b. Water absorption should be less than or equal to 3% by weight.
c. Specific gravity should be greater or equal to 2.7.
79. What are the water absorption percentage for different class of earth
bricks?
As per IS:3495 (Part-II) 1992, water absorption after 24 hours of immersion
in water is followings
a. 1st Class brick – not more than 20% by dry weight
b. 2nd class brick – not more than 22% by dry weight
c. 3rd class brick – not more than 25% by dry weight
80. What is workability of concrete and how can we measure it.
Workability of concrete is the ease to work with concrete. We can measure
the workability by following tests:
a. Compacting Factor Test – preferable for very low workability.
Higher compacting factor means high workability.
b. Slump Test – preferable for low, medium and high workable
concretes. Its value varies from 25(low) to 150(high).
 c. Vee-bee Test – High value of time means low workability.
d. Flow Test
81. What are the main factors which affect workability?
Following are the factors:
a. The higher the water content per cubic meter of concrete, the higher
will be the workability of concrete.
b. Higher the aggregate/cement ratio, the leaner the concrete and lesser
workability. Lower aggregate/cement ratio gives cohesive and fatty
mix with better workability.
c. The bigger the size of aggregate, higher will be the workability.
d. Angular, Elongated or flaky aggregate makes the concrete very
harsh compared to rounded or cubical aggregates.
e. Smooth textured aggregate contributes to higher workability.
f. Well graded aggregates with less void content, gives higher
workability.
g. Admixtures may increase the workability.
82. Name 3 chemical constituents that adversely affects the concrete.
a. Chlorides – it increases rate of corrosion of steel. Due to this reason,
chloride content of admixture is tested separately.
b. Sulphates – Excessive amount of water-soluble sulphate (expressed
as SO3) can cause expansion and disruption of concrete.
c. Alkali-Aggregate Reaction – some aggregate containing particular
type of silica may be susceptible to attack by alkalies (Na2O and
K2O) originating from cement, producing an expansive reaction
which can cause cracking and disruption of concrete.
83. Is there any difference between test samples and test specimens?
Yes, a test sample comprise three test specimens and test specimen mean one
concrete cube of standard dimension of 150 mm.
84. What should you do if there is any doubt regarding grade of
concrete?
Testing of concrete should be conducted if there is any doubt in grade of
concrete.
Following are the tests:
a. Destructive tests – Core test and Load test
b. Non-Destructive tests – Rebound hammer test and Ultrasonic pulse
velocity test
85. Important Tests for Various Building Materials
S.No. Materials Test
1. Bricks a. Compressive
strength
b. Water absorption
c. Efflorescence
2. Coarse a. Sieve analysis
Aggregate b. Flakiness index
c. Estimation of
Deleterious material
d. Organic impurities
e. Moisture content
f. Specific gravity
3. Fine Aggregate a. Sieve analysis
b. Test for clay, silt
and impurities
c. Specific gravity
d. Moisture content
e. Test for organic
impurities
4. Structural a. Slump
Concrete (M- test/compacting
15 Grade and factor test/Vee-Bee
above) test
b. Compressive
strength
5. PCC a. Compressive
Hollow/Solid strength
Block for b. Water absorption
walling c. Density
6. Cement a. Water absorption
 Flooring b. Wet transverse
Tiles/Terrazzo strength
tiles c. Resistance to wear
7. Burnt Clay a. Water absorption
Roofing Tiles b. Compressive
strength
8. Timber a. Specific gravity and
weight
b. Moisture content
9. Water for a. Test for acidity
Construction b. Test for alkalinity
Purposes c. Test for solid
content
10. Welding for a. Visual inspection
Steel Work test
11. Plywood a. Moisture content
12. Wood Particle a. Density
Board b. Moisture content
(Medium c. Water absorption
Density) d. Swelling due to
surface absorption
e. Swelling in water
f. Modulus of rupture
g. Screw withdrawal
strength

86. What are the basic qualities of an estimator for quality takeoffs?
To be able to do quantity takeoffs, the estimator must:
Be able to read and quantify plans.
Have knowledge of mathematics and a keen understanding of
geometry.
Have patience and ability to do careful, thorough walk.
Be computer literate and able to use computer takeoff programs.
Be able to visualize the project through its various phases of
 construction from looking the drawings.
Have good knowledge of site conditions, including methods of
material handling, economical methods of construction and labour
productivity.
Have good writing and presentation skills.
87. What is the square-foot estimate?
Square-foot estimates are prepared by multiplying the square footage of a
building by a cost per square foot and then adjusting the price to compensate
for differences in the building heights, length of the building perimeter, and
other building components.
88. What do you mean by General Conditions, Special Conditions and
Technical Specifications?
General Conditions – these conditions define the rights, responsibilities, and
relations of all parties to the construction contract.
Special Conditions – because conditions vary by locality and project, the
special general conditions are used to amend or supplement portions of the
general conditions.
Technical Specifications – technical specifications are written instruction
concerning project requirements that describe the quality of materials to be
used and their performance. The technical specifications supplement the
information on the working drawings.
89. What is project manual?
The project manual, often referred to as the specifications, is a document that
accompanies the drawings and includes information on how to bid the
project, the contractual obligations of the successful contractor, and the
specifications for the materials used in the construction.
90. What do you mean by Job Overhead Costs?
Job Overhead costs comprises all costs that can be readily charged to a
specific project but not to a specific item of work on that project. Examples –
salaries, temporary office, temporary barricades, utilities etc.
91. What is Labour Productivity Rate?
The productivity rate is determined by dividing the total number of labour
hour to complte a task by the actual quantity of the work performed.
i.e., labour Productivity Rate = Labour Hours/Quantity
92. What information do you required to determine the amount of
general excavation?
Following are the requirments:
The size of the building (building or section dimensions)
The distance of the footing will project beyond the wall
The amount of working space required.
Elevation of the existing land, by checking the existing contour lines
on the plot (site) plan.
Type of the soil.
Whether the excavation will be slopped or shored.
Depth of the excavation.
93. What should be the concrete estimation procedure on a project?
The procedure that should used to estimate the concrete on a project is a
follow:
Review the specifications to determine the requirements for each
area in which concrete is used separately ( such as footings, floor
slabs and walkaways) and list the following.
a. Type of concrete.
b. Strength of concrete.
c. Colour of Concrete
d. Any special curing or testing.

Review the drawings to be certain that all concrete items shown on

the drawings are covered in the specifications.
List each of the concrete items required on the project.
Determine the quantities required from the drawings.
94. How cold weather affect the cost of the construction?
Cold weather construction is more expensive than warm weather
construction. In cold weather, construction of temporary enclosures is
required, so that the masons can work. In cold weather, cost of construction is
increased because of higher frequency of equipment repair, thawing
materials, and the need for temporary heat.
95. What are the factors which affects the amount of time required for a
mason to lay a masonry unit?
Following are the factors:
Size, weight, and shape of the masonry.
Pattern (Bond) of the masonry.
Number of openings.
Whether the walls are straight or have jogs in them.
The shape of the mortar joints.
Height of the wall.
96. How the cost of structural metals estimated?
Structural metals are purchased by the ton. The cost per ton varies depending
on the type and shape of the metal required. Labour operations are different
for each type.
The estimated field cost of erecting structural metals will vary depending on
weather conditions, delivery of materials, equipment available, size of the
building, and the amount of riveting, bolting, and welding required.
97. What is bulking of sand?
Increase in the volume of sand due to increase in moisture content is
known as bulking of sand.
A film of water is created around the sand particles which forces the
particles to get a side from each other and thus the volume is
increased.
5% to 8% increase in moisture can increase the volume of sand up to
20% to 40%.
Bulking of sand is depends upon the quantity of moisture and the
size of particles. Finer sand is more volume change and increase in
volume relatively less in coarser sand.
 When the moisture is increased by adding more water, the particles
of sand gets packed near each other and the film around particles
breaks and the bulking of sand reduced.
Dry sand and fully saturated sand have the exact same volume.
Significance of Bulking of sand - For 1 cu.m of concrete we need x
amount of sand. If the given sample of sand have a bulkage value of
25% then we need to take 25% more sand i.e., 1.25x amount of sand
while volume batching.
98. What M20, M25, M30… represents in concrete?
These are the grades of concrete where M represents “mix” and number (20,
25, 30…) represents “grade which is characteristic strength of 150 mm cube
at 28 days”.
99. What is hydration of cement and how much quantity of water
required for it.
It has been estimated that on an average 23% of water by weight of cement is
required for chemical reaction. This 23% of water chemically combines with
cement and therefore it is called bound water. A certain quantity of water is
imbided with in the gel course, this water is known as gel water. It has been
estimated that about 15% by weight of cement is required to fill up the gel
course. Therefore, a total of 38% of water by weight of cement is required for
the complete chemical reaction and occupy the space with in gel course.
100. What should be the aim of design?
The aim of design is to fulfill mainly following five requirements:
a. Safety
b. Serviceability
c. Durability
d. Economy
e. Aesthetic
101. What is design life?
Time period for which a structure or a structural element is required to
perform its function without damage or failure.
What are the factors considered while planning and designing formwork?
The following factors should consider while planning and designing
formwork.
a. Strength
b. Stiffness.
c. Repetition.
d. Durability.
e. Stripability
f. Cost
102. What are the fundamental principles of surveying?
Fundamental principles of surveying are
a. Measuring distances from two fixed point
b. Working from whole to part
103. What are stages of engineering surveys carried out before
finalization of highway alignment?
Before a highway alignment is finalized in highway project, the engineering
survey are to be carried out in following stages: -
a. Map Study – Alignments are drawn on available maps
considering maximum utilization and avoiding obstructions.
b. Reconnaissance – it is done by visiting at site location for
detailing of features which are not available in map (ex. Temples,
low forest areas, power grid etc.)
c. Preliminary Survey – This survey is carried out to collect all the
physical information which are necessary in connection with the
proposed highway alignment. Topographical survey, traverse,
levelling work, drainage study, traffic study, chain survey,
compass survey, soil investigation are included in this stage of
survey. Highway alignment is finalized in this stage.
d. Detailed Survey – After preliminary survey, detailed survey
should be carried out for collecting the information necessary for
the preparation of plan and construction details for the highway
project. The data during detailed survey should be elaborate for
 preparing detailed plans, material, cost estimation and design etc.
of the project.
104. What do you mean by Planning and Scheduling?
Planning — The selection of the methods and the order of work for
performing the project is planning. (Note that there may be feasible methods
and, perhaps, more than one possible ordering for the work. Each feasible
solution represents a plan.) The required sequence of activities (preceding,
concurrent, or following) is portrayed graphically on the network diagram.
Scheduling — The process of determining the time of a work item or activity
within the overall time span of the construction project. It also involves the
allocation of resources (men, material, machinery, money, time) to each
activity, according to its anticipated requirements.

105. What are the goals of project management OR What you need to
achieve in a construction project?
Regardless of the project, most construction teams have the same
performance goals:
Cost — Complete the project within the cost budget, including the budgeted
costs of all change orders.
Time — Complete the project by the scheduled completion date or within the
allowance for work days.
Quality — Perform all work on the project, meeting or exceeding the project
plans and specifications.
Safety — Complete the project with zero lost-time accidents.
Conflict — Resolve disputes at the lowest practical level and have zero
disputes.
Project startup — Successfully start up the completed project (by the owner)
with zero rework.
 2. ROAD WORKS

1. For the highway project, what information should be included in

project report before the construction starts?
Project report should contain information such as
a. General detail of the project.
b. Purpose of the project.
c. Features of the road including selection of route, traffic, alignment
etc.
d. Drawings related to road and specifications.
e. Drainage system and cross drainage structures.
f. Material, labour and equipment estimates
g. Cost of the project and rates of the individual items.
h. CPM, PERT details
i. Other miscellaneous items like diversion roads, road site amenities,
lodging sites, traffic control etc.
2. What is camber (or cross slope) and why it is important.
Camber is a transverse slope provided to the road to drain off surface water
(rain water) from the pavement and it is provided by raising the middle of the
road surface.
Camber is important due to following reasons –
a. To prevent the entry of surface water in the subgrade which
adversely affect the surface condition and life of the pavement.
b. Bituminous roads are very much affected by water. It causes
stripping of bitumen from the aggregates and results in deterioration
of the pavement layer. Therefore, camber is important.
c. Also, camber allow the pavement to get dry soon after the rain as the
skid resistance of the pavement gets considerably decreased under
wet condition and makes it slippery and unsafe for vehicles.
3. What are the functions of traffic separators?
The main function of the traffic separators is to protect head-on collision
between vehicles moving in opposite directions on adjacent lane. It also helps
in channelize the traffic into streams at intersections, shadow the crossing and
turning traffic, segregate slow traffic and to protect pedestrians.
4. What is Kerb?
Kerb is a separator between pavement and footpath. It also provides lateral
support to the pavement.
5. What is PIEV theory?
According to this theory the time taken by the driver or the total reaction time
of the driver is split into four parts:
a. Perception – it is the time required in perceiving any object.
b. Intellection – it is the time required in analyzing the situation
c. Emotion – it is the time lost due to emotion of driver like anger or
fear.
d. Volition – it is the time taken for the final action (applying the
brake)
6. What is rutting?
Horizontal curve without superelevation imparts centrifugal force in outward
direction of curve. Due to that pressure on outer wheel of vehicles increases,
it imparts more pressure on outer edge of pavement, due to which
consolidation occurs at one or more than one layer of pavement, which is
called ruts and the process is known as rutting.
7. What is superelevation/cant/banking?
To counter balance the centrifugal force and to reduce the tendency of vehicle
to overturn or skid, the outer edge of the pavement is raised with respect to
the inner edge, thus providing a transverse slope throughout the length of the
horizontal curve. This transverse inclination is to the pavement surface is
known as superelevation.
8. Why we provide transition curve on highways?
Transition curve is provided to change horizontal alignment from straight to
circular curve gradually. This curve has a radius equal to infinite at straight
road and gradually changes to designated radius at circular curve. Objective
of transition curve are
a. To gradually introduce the centrifugal force between straight and
circular.
b. To avoid sudden jerk.
c. To introduce superelevation gradually.
d. To introduce extra widening gradually.
9. Why lesser gradient is provided at higher elevation?
At higher elevations lesser gradient is provided because at higher elevations,
availability of oxygen is less due to which less fuel burnt by vehicles and
hence it reduces the pulling power of vehicles.

10. For which sight distance valley curves are designed and why?
Valley curves are designed taking headlight sight distance (HSD) into
account. We use HSD for valley curve because at day time there is no
restriction to sight distance but during night in absence of street light, the
only source of visibility is head light. The visible distance through headlight
is known as HSD.
11. What is the traffic growth rate in India?
In India rate of growth of traffic is approximately 5 to 7.5% per year.

12. Name some various charts and their importance related to traffic
study.
Following are the important charts:
a. Trend Chart – trend chart shows the traffic volume trend over a
period of year. This chart is used for the calculation of rate growth
of traffic and also used for planning and future expansion.
b. Variation Chart – this chart shows hourly, daily and seasonal
variation. Variation chart helps in deciding the facilities and
regulation needed during peak traffic period. Ex. During peak flow a
particular class of vehicle is restricted to one road and diverted to
another road.
c. 30th Highest hourly volume – As per Indian Road Congress (IRC),
30th highest hourly volume is considered as design hourly volume.
This volume is exceeded only 29 times in a year and all other traffic
volume will lie lesser than that. Generally, this volume is 8% to 10%
of average daily traffic (AAT). It is observed that 30th highest
hourly volume gives a satisfactory result in terms of performance
and it is economical in nature.
13. What are the accidents types included in accident study?
Following are the accident types:
a. A moving vehicle collides with a park vehicle.
b. A moving vehicle collides with an object like tress, polls etc.
c. Head on collision of vehicles.
d. Two vehicles approaching from different direction collide at an
intersection.
14. Why Circular and Elliptical shape of rotary are preferable over
Tangential and Turbine shape of rotary?
Circular shape of rotary is preferred when traffic in both the cross roads are
approximately equal whereas Elliptical shape generally preferred when traffic
on one road is higher as compare to traffic on another road. Tangential and
Turbine shape is not preferred because of chances of over-speeding.
15. What are the different types of joint?
1. Transverse joints – Following are the transverse joints
Expansion Joint – these joints are provided in the transverse direction to the
pavement to allow expansion of slab when environment temperature is more
than construction temperature.
Contraction Joint – these joints are provided in transverse direction to allow
contraction of slab in order to prevent cracking due to tensile stress
development as environment temperature is less than construction
temperature.
Warping Joint – whenever the top and bottom have different temperatures,
the slab tends to warp downward or upward inducing warping stresses. So, to
prevent the warping of the slab warping joints are provided along the
longitudinal direction of pavement. If expansion and contraction joints are
properly designed and constructed, there is no need of providing warping
joints.
Construction Joint – this is not a type of joint. Due to discontinuity of work
construction joints are created. To avoid this in pavement construction,
concreting should be stopped at expansion, contraction and longitudinal joint.
2. Longitudinal Joints – these joints are provided in the direction of
traffic and tie bars are used to connect two slabs in lateral direction in order
to prevent lateral sliding due to dynamic forces, expansion, contraction etc.
16. Difference between Bitumen and Tar.
S. No Bitumen Tar
1 It is manufactured by Tar is manufactured by
fractional distillation of destructive distillation of coal
petrol and wood
2 Bitumen is more resistant Tar is less resistant to water
 to water
3 Free carbon content is less Free carbon content is more in
in bitumen tar
4 It is soluble in carbon di It is soluble in toluene.
sulphide and carbon tetra
chloride

17. At which depth the value of CBR is calculated or taken for design
purposes.
Generally, the CBR (California Bearing Ratio) value at 2.5 mm penetration
will be greater than that at 5 mm penetration and in such case the former shall
be taken ad the CBR value for design purposes. If the CBR value
corresponding to a penetration of 5 mm exceeds that for 2.5 mm, the test
shall be repeated. If identical results follow, the CBR corresponding to 5mm
penetration shall be taken for design.
18. What are the modes of water penetration into road structure?
Modes of water penetration into road structure:
a. Capillary rise of sub-soil water from beneath the pavement.
b. Penetration of surface water from top of the pavement (percolation)
mostly through cracks on the pavement surface.
c. Penetration of sun-soil water from sides of the pavement
d. Interception of water due to flooding of cross drains provided along
the pavement.
e. Interception of surface water from sides of the pavement.
19. What are the various components of Road Surface?
Various components of road surface:
a. Sub-grade – the top of the ground on which the foundation of the
road rest is called subgrade.
b. Sub-base – when the bearing capacity of the soil is poor and the
intensity of traffic is high, then a layer is provided between soling
(base) and subgrade, this layer is known as sub-base.
 c. Base – the foundation of a road is called base or soling. The
thickness of base, in no case, should be more than 30 cm. the base
course receives the impact of the traffic through the wearing course.
d. Wearing course – the super structure of a road is called wearing
course or road surfacing or wearing layer.
20. What is Floating gradient?
The gradient at which no tractive effort is required to maintain a constant
speed by the vehicle, is known as floating gradient. The gradients less than
the floating gradient require some tractive effort to maintain a constant speed
by the vehicle and the gradients more than the floating gradient result in
increase of speed.
21. What is fish plate?
The fish plates are a pair of plates of designed section, which are used in rail
joints to maintain the continuity of rails and to provide expansion and
contraction of the rails due to temperature variation. These plates bear
vertical and lateral stresses without distortion and resist wear. In Indian
railways, each pair of fish plates connected to the rails by means of four fish
bolts made of high carbon steel.
22. What is the difference between a standard proctor test & a modified
test?
Modified test have the 5 times greater compactive energy than in the standard
test and a higher value of dry density is obtained in the modified Proctor test
as compared to the standard proctor test.
23. Define liquid limit and plastic limit
Liquid limit is the percentage of water content in which the soil mass has a
capacity to flow as a liquid. It is between the liquid and plastic state of soil.
Plastic limit is the percentage of water content in which the soil mass can be
moulded without crumbling. It is in between the plastic and semi-solid state
of soil.
24. What is C.B.R?
C.B.R or California Bearing Ratio: It is a ratio of a force required to penetrate
a sample to a certain depth (with 5 cm dia. Piston) to a force required to
penetrate the sample of high-quality crushed stone with the same depth and
piston
25. How do you calculate actual surcharge weight for C.B.R?
By the following equation
W=dxVxA
Where,
W = Actual Surcharge Weight
A = Area of Mould
d = Density of Material
V = Sum of the thickness of Layers
26. What are the tests you run to determine the suitability of a sub-grade
material?
a) Sieve analysis
b) Atterberg test
c) Proctor test
d) C.B.R test
e) Field Density test
27. What are the basic tests normally carried out to determine soil
characteristics and conditions?
a) C.B.R test
b) Sieve Analysis
c) Atterberg test
28. Why and When C.B.R value needs adjustment? What is the rate of
Loading?
When the curve is concave upward shape because of swell, adjustment is
made by adjusting the point of origin by extending the line of stress-strain
curve downward until it intersects the abscissa. Rate of loading is 0.05 inch
per minute.
29. What are the factors affecting density of soil?
Relative volume of solid and void spaces: The greater the volume of solids or
the less the volume of voids, the greater is the density.
Specific gravity of soil particles: The greater the specific gravity of solids, the
greater is the density, all other factors being equal.
Amount of water in void spaces: this factor affects only the wet density. It is
obvious that the greater the amount of water, greater is the wet density.
30. What is permeability and its significance?
Is that hydraulic property of a soil which indicates the case with which water
will flow through the soil mass. It is significant on numerous engineering
problems such as seepage through dams and irrigation canals, lowering the
water table to improve stability of foundations, selecting capacity of pumps
for lowering the ground-water level during excavations, and settlement of
structures resting on compressible soils.
31. What is consolidation in soil?
It is the escape of water and a gradual transfer of stress from the water to
solid in a soil mass.
* It is not synonymous with compaction which is artificial compression of a
soil by rearrangement of its particles aided by lubricating effect of water.
32. What do you know about Lime Stabilization?
Lime stabilization is the most economic and effective with clay soils, where
pH = 12.30 added to soil by about 3% to 7% by weight of dry material.
33. When you stop the contractor?
a) If he did not correct unsafe condition for workmen or general public.
b) For failure to carry out provisions of the contract.
c) For failure to carry out orders and directives.
d) Due to unsuitable weathers.
34. How to know during compaction of the materials if the water is more
or less by eyes, and by hands?
By Eyes:
a) Rollers will make shoving in layer.
b) Tires trucks will make holls in layer.
c) Sheep roller in case of clay will pick up the materials from layer.
By hands:
a) We take mass of soil and press in hand.
b) If water goes out indicate more water.
c) If it is plastic mass indicate proper water.
d) If it is loss in hand indicate less water.
35. Define those terms: compression, consolidation, shrinkage,
compaction, rebound, expansion, swelling, loosening or scarifying.
a) Compression: The loss in external volume under sustained load.
b) Consolidation: The loss in volume with time.
c) Shrinkage: The loss in volume resulting from capillary stresses
during drying soil.
d) Compaction: The loss in volume due to artificial temporary loads
as rolling, tamping, vibration.
e) Rebound: The increase in volume due to removal of sustained load.
f) Expansion: The increase in volume with time.
g) Swelling: The increase in volume resulting from increasing of water
content.
h) Loosening or scarifying: The increase in volume due to artificial
operations.
36. What are the ideal soils for road?
Ideal soil should be dense, free from excessive moisture, high in internal
friction and cohesion and possess low compressibility and capillarity.
37. What are the types of soil stabilization?
a) Mechanical stabilization.
b) Soil cements stabilization.
c) Lime stabilization.
d) Chemical stabilization.
38. What is Bitumen?
Bitumen is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of
petroleum.
39. What is the difference between Asphalt and Bitumen?
Asphalt is a composite of aggregate, sand and bitumen, where bitumen acts
as a liquid binding material that holds asphalt together. Also, the asphalt
pavements are durable than the bitumen pavements.
What is rutting and its causes?
A rut is a permanent, longitudinal surface depression that occurs in the wheel
paths of a flexible pavement due to the passage of traffic. The main concerns
arising from rutting are the safety issue and the reduction in the life of the
road.
The main causes are;
a) Poor compaction
b) Fine-graded mix
c) Excessive asphalt content, Low air voids.
d) High temperature
e) Excessive wheel and traffic loads
f) Dune sand more than 7.5% of fine aggregates
g) Low softening point.
40. On the mixing plant, how can you say the hot mix is okey or not
okey?
a) Required temperature should be uniform
b) Mix should be free from excessive fines
c) Mix should be free from free asphalt
d) Larger aggregates should not be uncoated
e) Appearance should be uniform
f) Should not be burned
g) Should not be too brown or gray
h) Should not be too fat
i) Should not steam in truck.
41. What is MC-1 and RC-2?
MC-1 or Medium curing cutback is a liquid bituminous material having
kerosene as a solvent. Its purpose is to stabilized and waterproof the
absorbent surface and to promote adhesion to the bituminous course to
follow.
RC-2 or Rapid curing cutback is a liquid bituminous material having
gasoline or naphtha as a solvent. Its purpose is to provide bond with a super
imposed course.
42. What is raveling and its causes?
It is a progressive loosening or separation of aggregate particles in a
pavement surface coarse from the surface downward or from the edge
inward.
The causes are;
a) Lack of compaction
b) Construction in thin lift during cold weather
c) Dirty or disintegrated aggregates
d) Too little asphalt in the mix
e) Overheating of asphalt mix
f) Mix is very close to coarse
g) Action of water
h) Sensitive aggregate refuse coating due to special charge (anti-
stripping materials
i) must be used)
43. What are the requirements for the coarse aggregate that is to use in
Bituminous Base Course?
a) Shall be crushed rock or crushed gravel.
b) Shall be clean, hard, tough, durable & sound.
c) Shall be of uniform quality.
d) Shall be free from excess elongated pieces (in no case not more than
10%)
e) Shall pass the stripping test.
44. What is stripping test and its purpose?
It is a test to estimate the coated area as above 95% or below 95% by static-
immersion in water and Its purpose is to determine the retention of a
bituminous film on an aggregate surface in the presence of water.
45. What consist the Bituminous Base Course?
It consists of mineral aggregate such as coarse aggregates, fine aggregates,
and mineral filler (if required) and asphalt.
46. Suppose your Material Engineer reported to you that there is a
problem in the Batching Plant, what will you do?
I will ask him first about the problem, then together we will go to the plant &
investigate thoroughly. Then make necessary adjustments or corrections.
47. If drawing shows a thickness of 20 cm for sub grade and specification
says 30 cm thick, which one you will adopt for execution?
We have to follow the drawings.
48. What is the range of temperature for bituminous mixture delivered
to the paver at site?
1400C to 1500C.
49. What is the maximum variation allowed for asphalt content?
±0.30%.
50. What is the min. temp. required for applying prime coat?
15oC
51. Can we use sand for sub-grade?
Sand cannot be used for sub-grade, because
a) Poor load sustaining quality.
b) Highly permeable.
c) Compressible under sustain load.
d) Subject to change in strength & volume due to variation in water
content.
52. During paving operation if there are much fine particles, what will
happen?
Excessive fines can cause a mix to have a lean, brown, dull appearance like a
mix too little asphalt.
53. If soundness is higher, stability is equal to 1000 kg. Exactly, would
you let the contractor to proceed?
A higher soundness not allowed but it does not help in the longer stability
and durability of the pavement in general. So, it is better to adjust the mix to
achieved higher stability than just to trust on soundness of aggregate alone.
The contractor should be instructed accordingly.
54. Why we are doing the bitumen paint on structures?
This work shall consist of providing protective coating to existing concrete
structure. Protective coating shall be used to improve the durability of
concrete by protecting it from degradation by chemicals and subsequent loss
of structure integrity.
55. If cracks appeared on sub-grade, how you will rectify it?
Ans: If cracks appeared on sub-grade, it means clay contents are more in
material. It can be rectified by scarifying & adding more coarser material,
then recompact it.
56. What factors affecting the compaction of asphalt mix?
a) Mix properties:
Aggregate – If maximum aggregate size or percentage of coarse
aggregate in the mix increases, the workability decreases and greater
compactive effort is required to achieve the target density. Natural
sand often turns the mixes tender which are easily over-stressed by
heavy rollers and too much rolling. Combination of filler and asphalt
produces necessary cohesion when the mix cools. But too many
fines will make the mix “gummy” and very difficult to compact.
Asphalt – Proper compaction can be achieved only when asphalt is
still fluid enough. Consequently, compaction of the mix is extremely
difficult once the mix has cooled to 85'C. Grade of asphalt is also
important. Higher viscosity asphalt in the mix requires higher
compaction, temperature and/or greater compactive effort. If
 quantity of asphalt in mix increases, film thickness of asphalt on
aggregate also increases, which make the mix workable and easy in
compaction and vice versa.
Mix temperature – Up to a certain point, the hotter the mix, the
more fluid the asphalt and less resistant to compaction and vice versa
if it cools.

b) Environmental conditions – Ambient temperature, humidity, wind and

the temp. of the surface under the mix also affects the compaction.

c) Layer (lift) thickness – Generally, it is easier to achieved target density

in thicker layers of asphalt concrete than in thinner ones, because of the
difference in rate of cooling.
57. What produces a workable mix and non-workable mix? Do you have
to adjust bitumen content or aggregate?
Basic causes of workability are;
a) Larger maximum sizes of particle
b) Excessive coarse aggregate
c) Too low a mix temperature
d) Too much medium-sized sand
e) Low mineral filler content
f) High mineral filler content
So, instead of adjusting bitumen content, the aggregate should be adjusted.
58. As a Site-Engineer or Supervisor, what properties you are looking in
asphalt and what is your target on site?
a) Asphalt content should be check as per job-mix formula
b) Aggregate gradation should be check as per job-mix formula
c) Required temperature should be uniform
d) Mix should be free from excessive fines
e) Mix should not be burned
f) Mix should not be too brown, gray or fat
g) Mix should not steam in truck
h) Mix should smoke on discharge from hopper.
59. What you considered or watch during pavement?
We have to watch the following things:
a) Thickness and alignment of the pavement
b) Temperature of the paving mixtures
c) Appearance of the paving mixtures
d) Rolling at correct time and at the correct temperature
e) Sufficient rolling should be done
f) Surface irregularities and repairing work if required
g) Corners of the pavement
h) Locations paved in each shift
i) Mixing rate of the paving mixtures
j) Weather conditions of the day, etc.

60. What are the tests involved for liquid asphalt?

a) Penetration test
b) Viscosity test
c) Flashpoint
d) Thin-film oven test
e) Rolling thin film oven test
f) Ductility
g) Solubility
h) Specific Gravity, etc.
61. What do you mean by effective asphalt content?
It is the asphalt content that serve as a binder
62. What do you mean by Voids of Mineral Aggregate (VNA)?
It is an intergranular space between the mineral aggregate particles
63. Did asphalt affect by acids, alkalies, and salts?
No, it didn’t affect.
64. Why we called asphalt a thermoplastic material?
Because it softens as it is heated and hardens as it is cooled.
65. What is the percentage of aggregate in asphalt mix?
Normally from 90% to 95%
66. Why you added filler to mix?
a) To improve resistance to weathering.
b) To improve strength.
c) To increase stability.
d) To close the space between coarse and fine aggregate, etc.
67. How to determine the grade of asphalt?
a) By Penetration Test: Old Method
b) By Viscosity Test: Modern Method
68. What do you understand about artificial aggregate?
Blast-furnace slag is the most commonly used artificial aggregate, have
unusual resistance to wear and use in bridge deck & roof deck.
69. What are the desired properties of asphalt mix?
a) Stability - Resistance to displacement and shearing stress caused by
stationary and moving loads.
b) Durability - Resistance to disintegration due to the effects of traffic,
water, and temperature change.
c) Flexibility - Ability of the pavement to adjust to the settlement of
the base without cracking.
d) Skid Resistance - The frictional resistance between the surface of
the pavement and the vehicle tire to resist motion.
e) Workability - Is the ease by which the material can be placed to its
desired form and compacted to required density.
f) Fatigue Resistance - Resistance to wear and aging.
g) Impermeability - Resistance to the penetration of water.
70. What are the factors affecting the stability?
a) Gradation of aggregate
b) Hardness
c) Shape and surface texture of aggregate
d) Quantity of asphalt
 e) Degree of compaction: at least 95% compacted
71. What are the factors affecting durability?
a) Density of the compacted pavement
b) Properties of the aggregate
c) Quality of the asphalt
72. What are the factors affecting flexibility?
a) Quality of the asphalt
b) Quality of the mineral filler
*The more viscose the asphalt the more flexible.
73. What are the factors affecting skid resistance?
a) Quality of asphalt
b) Surface texture of the aggregate
74. What are the factors affecting workability?
a) Graduation of aggregate
b) Consistency of the asphalt
c) Temperature of the mix
75. What are the tests recommended on fillers?
a) Particle size analysis by hydrometer (Mineral Filler)
b) Plasticity Index (Mineral Filler)
c) Immersion – Compression test (Joint Filler)
76. What will be your recommendation to minimize rutting?
a) Gravel should be scalped on at least 1.5" screen before feed to the
crusher.
b) Natural sand limited to 15% from fine aggregate and should not
contain more than 50% dune sand.
c) Trial section should be made to determine the maximum density in
the field and air voids in the mix at that density.
d) Filler to asphalt cement ratio should be between 1.3 to 1.5 to get
softening point of 85'C to 95'C maximum.
e) Use asphalt 40/50 instead of 60/70 penetration in the desert areas.
 f) The total thickness of the asphalt layers shall not exceed 15 cm. Or
as shown on the
g) drawings not more than 20 cm.
77. What are the types of Asphalt Cracks?
a) Alligator Cracks – These are inter-connected cracks forming a series
of small blocks resembling an alligator’s skin or chicken wire.
b) Edge Cracks – Longitudinal cracks, 1/3 meter from the edge of
pavement with or without transverse cracks branching towards the
shoulders.
c) Edge Joint Cracks – Is really a Seam; It is the separation of the Joint
between the pavement and the shoulder.
d) Lane Joint Cracks – are longitudinal separations along the seam
between two paving lanes.
e) Reflection Cracks – In asphalt overlays which reflect the crack
pattern in the pavement structure underneath.
f) Shrinkage Cracks – Are interconnected crack forming a series of
large blocks usually with sharp corners or angles.
g) Slippage Cracks – Crescent-shape cracks that point in the direction
of the thrust of wheels on the pavement surface.
h) Widening Cracks – Are longitudinal reflection cracks that show up
in the asphalt overlay above the joint between the old and new
sections of a pavement widening.
78. What is bleeding in asphalt?
Bleeding or flushing is the upward movement of asphalt in an asphalt
pavement resulting in the formation of a film of asphalt on the surface.
Causes:
1. Too much asphalt in one or more of the pavement courses.
2. Too heavy a prime or tack coat
3. Overweight traffic.
Repair:
1. Repeated applications of hot sand
2. Hot slag screening
 3. Hot rock screening to blot up the excess asphalt.
79. What are the advantages of pneumatic roller in asphalt paving?
a) They provide a more uniform degree of compaction than steel wheel
roller.
b) They improve the seal near the surface thus decrease the
permeability of layer.
c) They orient the aggregate particles for greatest stability, as high-
pressure truck tires do after using the asphalt surface for some time.
d) Pneumatic rollers not increase density but increase stability which
assures minimum distortion under heavy traffic.
80. If while performing the test of coating and stripping of bitumen
aggregate mixture, it is observed that the estimated coated area is below
95%. What to do?
Antistripping agent to be used to promote coating and adhesion. Additives
are used to aid the coating of aggregates, particularly when in a damp or wet
condition. They are also used to increase the resistance of asphalt film to
stripping by the action of water.
81. What is the precautionary measure taken if a hot mix results in
excessive voids?
The percentage of air voids can be decreased by increasing asphalt content.
Voids can also be reduced by increasing the mineral filler contents. Care
should be taken that asphalt content may be increased up to a certain limit to
avoid further problems of rutting and bleeding.
82. What is the relation between air voids and Asphalt content?
Voids are more at low asphalt content.
83. How to clean Trucks during Asphalt production?
By thin film of paraffin oil or calcium hydroxide solution.
 3. BRIDGE WORKS

1. What are the purpose of bridges?

The basic purpose of bridge is to carry traffic over an opening or
discontinuity in the landscape. An opening can occur over a highway, a river,
a valley, or any other type of physical obstacle. The need to carry traffic over
such an opening defines the function of a bridge.
A bridge should be safe, functional, economical and good looking and at any
condition, safety cannot be compromised.
2. What are the stages of a bridge design?
The design process of a bridge can be divided into four basic stages:
a. Conceptual Design Stage – the purpose of this stage is to come up
with various feasible bridge schemes and to decide on one or more
final concepts for further consideration.
b. Preliminary Design Stage – in this stage, selection of the best
scheme from proposed concepts are finalized and ascertain the
feasibility of the selected concept and refine its cost estimates.
 c. Detailed Design Stage – in this stage, finalization of all the details
of the bridge structure are completed so that the document is
sufficient for tendering and construction.
d. Construction Design Stage – this design stage is important to
provide step-by-step procedures for building the bridge.
3. When a bridge span is very long, what technical problems can be
occurred?
The most prominent technical problems for long span bridges are:
a. Girder stiffness in the transverse direction.
b. Reduction in cable efficiency of very long cables in a cable-stayed
bridge.
c. Torsional stiffness of the main girder.
d. Allowable stresses of the construction materials.
Mainly, all of these problems are, in some way, related to the construction
materials.
4. How can we increase lateral stiffness of the main girder for long span
bridges?
By increasing the width of the bridge, we can increase lateral stiffness as it
increases the stability of bridges.
5. What are some simple ways to increase the cable efficiency in bridges?
We can increase cable efficiency in following ways:
a. By providing tie ropes
b. By providing strut supports
c. By suspended by suspension cable.
6. What are the problems generally occur in bridge widening projects by
stitching method in terms of shrinkage concrete?
In stitching method of bridge widening, the widening part is constructed first
and let it undisturbed for several months and only after that concreting will be
done for the stitch between the new deck and the old one. In this way, the
dead load of the widened part of bridge is supported by itself and thus this
load did not transfer to the existing deck as existing deck was not designed
for that load.
There stress induced by shrinkage of newly widened deck of the bridge on
the existing deck is the matter of concern, thus to counter this problem, the
widened part of bridge is constructed much before (say about 7 to 9 months)
the stitching process, so that the shrinkage effect generated by the new deck
will take place within this period and thus the shrinkage stress exerted on the
bridge is minimized.
Also, the traffic vibrations on the existing bridges caused adverse effect to the
newly constructed stitches, thus to counter this issue, rapid handing cement is
used instead of normal cement for stitching process and also the work should
be done in nights and the existing bridge should be closed for at-least 6 hours
to let the stitching works left undisturbed.
7. What are the various loads considered in designing the road bridge?
While designing road bridges and culverts, the following loads, should be
considered, where applicable:
a. Dead load
b. Live load
c. Snow load
d. Impact or dynamic effect due to vehicles
e. Impact due to floating bodies or vessels
f. Wind load
8. What is the role of IRC in designing the road bridges?
The Indian Road Congress (IRC) has formulated Standard Specifications and
Codes of Practice for road bridges with a view to establish a common
procedure for the design and construction of road bridges in India. The
specifications are collectively known as the Bridge Code. Prior to the
formulation of the IRC Bridge Code, there was no uniform code for the
whole country. Presently, we are following the IRC Bridge Code.
9. What are the various forces considered in designing the road bridge?
While designing road bridges, the following forces should be considered:
a. Longitudinal forces caused by the tractive effort of vehicles or by
 braking of vehicles.
b. Longitudinal forces due to frictional resistance of expansion
bearings.
c. Centrifugal forces due to curvature.
d. Horizontal forces due to water currents.
e. Buoyancy
f. Earth pressure, including live load surcharge.
g. Forces and effects due to earthquake
10. What are the different types of IRC Standards Live Load considered
during the design of road bridge?
There are four types of Standard Loadings for which road bridges are
designed:
a. IRC Class AA Loading
b. IRC Class 70 R Loading
c. IRC Class A Loading
d. IRC Class B Loading
11. What are the various standards the railway bridges are to be built to
conform to the Indian Railway Standard laid down by the Ministry of
Railways?
Railway bridges in India are to be built to conform to the Indian Railway
Standards (IRS) laid down by the Ministry of Railways, Government of
India, as below:
a. The loads to be considered in design are given in IRS Bridge Rules.
b. The details of design of steel bridge should conform to IRS Steel
Bridge Code.
c. The details of design of bridge members in plain, reinforced and
prestressed concrete should be in accordance with IRS Concrete
Bridge Code.
d. Masonry ad plain concrete arch bridges should be detailed so as to
conform to IRS Arch Bridge Code.
e. The substructure for bridges should be in accordance with IRS
Bridge Substructure Code.
12. What are the different types of Concrete Bridges?
The usual types of reinforced concrete bridges are:
a. Slab bridges;
b. Girder and slab (T-beam) bridges;
c. Hollow girder bridges;
d. Balanced cantilever bridges;
e. Rigid frame bridges;
f. Arch bridges;
g. Bow string girder bridges.
13. What are the different components of T-beam bridge
superstructure?
The T-beam superstructure consists of the following components:
a. Deck slab
b. Cantilever portion
c. Footpaths; if provided, kerbs and handrails
d. Longitudinal girders, considered in design to be of T-section
e. Cross beams or diaphragms
f. Wearing course.
14. What are the disadvantages of Continuous Girder Bridge?
a. Uneven settlement of foundations may lead to disaster. Hence this
type of structures should not be used in situations where unyielding
foundations cannot be obtained at a reasonable cost.
b. The detailing and placing of reinforcements need extra care.
c. The sequence of placing concrete and the sequence of removing
formwork have to be carefully planned.
d. Being statically indeterminate, the design is more complicated than
simple beams.

15. What are the various consideration taken into account in case of arch
axis?
The arch axis is generally governed by three considerations:
a. Span and rise from the road gradient and navigation or traffic
clearances below,
 b. The economical shape from point of view of saving of materials,
and
c. The beauty of the intrados.

16. What is Balanced Cantilever Bridge?

If continuous spans are used, the governing bending moments can be
minimized and hence the individual span lengths can be increased. But
unyielding supports are required for continuous construction. If supports
settle, the net moments get modified in magnitude as well as in sense,
resulting in distress to the structure. Hence for medium spans in the range of
about 35 to 60 m, a combination of supported spans, cantilevers and
suspended spans may be. The bridge with this type of superstructure is
known as balanced cantilever bridge.

17. What are the advantages & disadvantages of Continuous girder

bridges over simply supported bridges?
Continuous girder bridges have the following advantages over simply
supported girder bridges:
a. The depth of decking at midspan will be much smaller. This is
particularly important in the case of over bridges where the
headroom available is generally restricted.
b. As a corollary to the above, the quantities of steel and concrete will
be less, resulting in reduced cost. Also reduced depth of deck leads
to decrease in cost of approach ramps and earthwork.
c. Fewer bearings are required. At each pier, only one bearing is
needed, as against two bearings required for simply supported
designs. Hence the piers can be narrower. Although the cost of
individual bearings will be higher, the total cost on bearings will be
lower.
d. Fewer expansion joints will be required. For a continuous girder
design, only two joints are needed at the ends, while the simply
supported girder design will require one joint on each abutment and
pier. Elimination of joints enhances the riding quality over the
bridge.
 e. Since the bearings are placed on the center lines of the piers, the
reactions of the continuous girder are transmitted centrally to the
piers.
f. The continuous girder bridge suffers less vibration and deflection.
The disadvantages of continuous girder designs over the simply supported
girder designs may be listed as below:
a. Uneven settlement of foundations may lead to disaster. Hence this
type of structures should not be used in situations where unyielding
foundations cannot be obtained at a reasonable cost.
b. The detailing and placing of reinforcements need extra care.
c. The sequence of placing concrete and the sequence of removing
formwork have to be carefully planned.
d. Being statically indeterminate, the design is more complicated than
simple beams.
18. What are the basic difference between pre-tensioning and post-
tensioning from the point of view of bridge construction?
From the point of view of bridge construction, the basic differences between
pre-tensioning and post-tensioning are listed below:
a. Post-tensioning is well suited for prestressing at a construction site
without the need for costly factory-type installations.
b. Cast-in-place structures can be conveniently stressed by post-
tensioning, which would not be possible with pre-tensioning.
c. With post-tensioning, tendons can have curved trajectories, which
lead to structural advantages, particularly for shear resistance.
d. The need for individual tensioning, special anchorages, sheath and
grouting results in a higher unit cost (cost per KN of effective
prestressing force) for post-tensioning than for pre-tensioning.
e. Many of the post-tensioning devices are covered by patents,
restricting the user to purchase materials and equipment from the
patent holders. This difficulty is not present in pre-tensioning.
f. It is possible to fabricate a beam with a number of precast elements,
which are post-tensioned together to form one structural unit.

19. What are the advantages of Segmental Cantilever Method of

Construction of Prestressed Concrete Bridges?
The segmental cantilever method of construction of prestressed concrete
bridges has the following advantages:
a. Centering and false work are avoided, enabling construction of
structures with tall piers and over deep valleys.
b. The speed of construction is enhanced, typically at 1 m per day per
CFT for cast-in-place construction and possibly 3 m per day with the
use of prefabricated segments.
c. Enhanced levels of quality and workmanship are facilitated due to
mechanization of repetitive tasks and
d. The cost of construction permits competition with alternative design
of a steel superstructure of long span.

20. Name the different types of Steel Bridges commonly used.

Steel bridges can be classified under the following groups:
a. Beam bridges;
b. Plate girder bridges
c. Box girder bridges
d. Truss brides
e. Arch bridges
f. Cantilever bridges
g. Cable stayed bridges
h. Suspension bridges.

21. Give the range of Span in meters for which Truss, Cantilever
and Cable Stayed Bridges are used and found economical.
Following Table gives the range of span in meters for different types
of Bridges:
S.No. Types of Span Range
Bridges
1. Truss Bridge 100 – 200 m
2. Cantilever 320 m
Bridge
 3. Cable Stayed 200 – 800 m
Bridges

22. Under what conditions, Steel Bridges are generally used?

Steel bridges could be preferred option in Build Operate Transfer (BOT)
projects, where speed in construction is crucial. Steel structures may also
prove advantageous for urban flyover/elevated road projects as they cause
fewer disturbances to traffic through faster construction and possible
prefabrication.

23. What are the different types of Plate Girder Bridges? Where
they are preferred?
Plate girder bridges are of two types:
(a) deck type; and
(b) half-through type.
Deck type is normally preferred. Half-through type is adopted when the cost
of additional embankment to raise the rail level is high. A plate girder
highway bridge will consist of the deck slab (normally of reinforced
concrete) and stringers running longitudinally and resting on transverse floor
beams, which in turn rest on the plate girders.

24. Explain us the Truss Bridges.

Truss bridges have been used economically in the span range of 100 to 200
m. A bridge truss derives its economy from its two major structural
advantages
a. The primary forces in its members are axial forces, and
b. Greater overall depths permissible with its open web construction
leads to reduced self-weight when compared with solid web
systems.

25. What are the different forms of Box Girders used for Box Girder
Bridges?
Typical forms of box girders are given below:
 a. Rectangular box with wide cantilevering span on either side
b. Trapezoidal box sections
c. Two box sections which are connected together by bracing for the
integral action of the deck
d. One wide box section subdivided into three cells
e. Two box sections kept wide apart an
f. One middle box section with one longitudinal girder on either side.

26. When and where Cable Stayed Bridge was developed?

It was developed in Germany in the post-war years in an effort to save steel
which was then in short supply. Since then, many cable stayed bridges have
been built all over the world, chiefly because they are economical over a wide
range of span lengths and they are aesthetically attractive.

27. What are the different forms of Towers used in Cable Stayed
Bridges?
The towers may take any one of the following forms
a. Single free-standing tower, as in Norderelbe bridge
b. Pair of free-standing tower shafts, as in Dusseldort North bridge
c. Portal frame, as in Stromsund bridge and Second Hooghly bridge
d. A-frame as in Severins bridge or inverted Y-shape as in Yangpu
bridge
e. Diamond configuration as in Globe Island bridge, Sydney.

28. What are the different components of Suspension Bridges?

The components of a suspension bridge are:
a. flexible main cables,
b. towers;
c. anchorages,
d. hangers, deck, and
e. stiffening systems

29. What is the role of Towers in Suspension Bridges?

The towers support the main cables and transfer the bridge loads to the
foundations. Besides the primary structural function, the towers have a
secondary function in giving the entire bridge a robust, graceful and soaring
visual image. While earlier bridges had steel towers, concrete towers have
been used in the Humber bridge and the Great Belt East bridge. Anchorages
are usually massive concrete structures which resist the tension of the main
cables.

30. Explain about Arch Type Bridge.

The arch form is best suited to deep gorges with steep rocky banks which
furnish efficient natural abutment to receive the heavy trust exerted by the
ribs. In the absence of these natural conditions, the arch usually suffers a
disadvantage, because the construction of a suitable abutment is expensive
and time consuming.

31. Tell us some details about Howrah Bridge.

Howrah bridge with a main span of 457 m was the third longest span
cantilever bridge in the world at the time of its construction (1943). The
bridge was erected by commencing at the two anchor spans and advancing
towards the center with the use of creeper cranes moving along the upper
chord. The closure at the middle was obtained by means of sixteen hydraulic
jacks of 800 Ton capacity each. The construction was successfully completed
with very close precision.

32. What is Pier? What is the function of Pier?

Piers are structures located at the ends of bridge spans at intermediate points
between the abutments. The function of the piers is two-fold: to transfer the
vertical loads to the foundation, and to resist all horizontal forces and
transverse forces acting on the bridge. Being one of the most visible
components of a bridge, the piers contribute to the aesthetic appearance of the
structure.

33. Why the use of Single column pier is increasing day by day?
Ans: Single column piers are increasingly used in urban elevated
highway applications, and also for river crossings with a skew alignment. In
an urban setting, single column piers provide an open and free-flowing
perception to the motorists using the road below. Such piers when used for a
skew bridge across a river results in least obstruction to passage of flood
below the bridge.

34. What are Abutment? What is the role of it?

An abutment is the substructure which supports one terminus of the
superstructure of a bridge and, at the same time, laterally supports the
embankment which serves as an approach to the bridge. For a river bridge,
the abutment also protects the embankment from scour of the stream. Bridge
abutments can be made of masonry, plain concrete or reinforced concrete.

35. What are the Functions of the bearing in the bridges?

Bearings are provided in bridges to transmit the load from the superstructure
to the substructure in such a manner that the bearing stresses induced in the
substructure are within permissible limits. They also accommodate certain
relative movements between the superstructure and the substructure.

36. What are the different types of expansion bearing?

Expansion bearings for girder bridges are of the following types:
a. Sliding plate bearing
b. Sliding-cum-rocker bearing
c. Steel roller-cum-rocker bearing
d. R.C. rocker expansion bearing
e. Elastomeric bearing

37. What are the advantages of Elastomeric Bearing over the other type
of Bearing?
Since metallic bearings are expensive in cost and maintenance, the recent
trend is to favour elastomeric bearings. An elastomeric bearing
accommodates both rotation and translation through deformation of the
elastomeric, these bearings are easy to install, low in cost and require
practically no maintenance. They do not freeze, corrode or deteriorate.
Barring an earthquake, the only probable causes for failure of an elastomeric
bearing are inferior materials, incorrect design or improper installation.
Elastomeric bearings can tolerate loads and movements exceeding the design
values.

38. What do you mean by Joints?

The joint is the weakest and most vulnerable area in bridge design. Unless
properly designed, the distress at bridge joints will lead to many maintenance
problems, ranging from spelling of concrete edges at the joint to deterioration
of pier caps. With the extremely high density of traffic occurring on most
major bridges, maintenance work on the bridge should be restricted to a
minimum length of time. Hence the joints on a bridge should be so designed
as to perform satisfactorily for a long time without requiring repair or
replacement.

39. What are the various causes of reconstruction?

The main causes of reconstruction include:
a. Inadequate carriageway for the volume of traffic
b. Structural inadequacy due to deterioration or increase in design
loadings
c. insufficient waterway for river bridges and
d. inadequate clearances for road under bridges.

40. What is the purpose of providing wearing course over concrete

bridge deck?
A wearing course (sometimes referred as wearing coat) is provided over
concrete bridge decks to protect the structural concrete from the direct
wearing effects of traffic and also to provide the cross camber required for
surface drainage. The wearing course may be of asphaltic concrete or cement
concrete.
41. Why guide bunds are provided across the major bridges?
Guide bunds are provided to channel the flow of flood waters in the river
towards the vent way of the bridge and to afford protection to the road
embankment from flange attack during floods. Spurs are provided for training
the river along a desired course by attracting, deflecting or repelling the flow
of a channel.

42. What is retrofitting of a Highway Bridge?

Retrofitting of a highway bridge involves procedures to improve the function
of an existing bridge for a better performance or to increase the load carrying
capacity.

43. What do you mean by Total Failure and Partial Failure?

Total failure refers to the collapse of the bridge. Partial failure, on the other
hand, involves deficiencies in meeting the intended requirements,
necessitating reduced load limit, decreased speed, and implementation of
substantial repair and rehabilitation. Total failures generally attract attention.
But partial failures also merit careful study to avoid recurrence of the defects.

44. What do you mean by False Work?

Falsework is a temporary structure designed and erected to last long enough
to support the final structure during construction. Traditionally, this has been
left to the contractor and as an economic necessity, the formwork
construction needs to use second hand materials to the extent possible.

45. What are the results of the failure of false work?

Failures of falsework can result in loss, injury, death and interruption of
traffic as much as bridge collapse. Falsework failure can cause excessive
settlement and deflection, besides the catastrophic collapse of the
superstructure, while flood, storm winds and earthquakes may contribute to
failure, most falsework failures are attributable to human error.
 46. How the risk of corrosion can be reduced in concrete
bridges?
The risk of corrosion for concrete bridges may be reduced by adoption of a
combination of preventive measures such as provision of adequate concrete
cover, use of high-performance concrete, application of admixtures to inhibit
corrosion, use of corrosion resistant reinforcement, such as epoxy-coated
bars, and exercise of good quality control.

47. What are the various preventive measures taken against the
earthquake failure of bridge?
The preventive measures taken can be, heavier and closer spaced spiral
reinforcement should be provided for columns. Such reinforcement would
retain the concrete in the core and prevent collapse. Restraint should be
provided at expansion joints and articulations such that ordinary expansion
due to temperature is permitted but larger movements under earthquake are
restrained. No splices are to be allowed in columns of less than 6 m height, as
lapped splices of column bars have been found to be ineffective under
earthquakes. Approach slab with one end resting on abutment should be
provided to permit a smooth transition in case of settlement of approaches
due to liquefaction of the fill.
48. What is extrados bridge? Give any example of it.
A recent innovation combining the principles of cable stayed bridges and
prestressed concrete box girders in the span range of 100 to 275 m is the
evolution of extradosed bridges, a concept attributed to Mathivat in France.
These bridges are similar to cable stayed bridges as both use stay cables for
strengthening. They differ in that the extradosed bridges generally use lower
tower heights, usually about half that normally used for cable stayed bridges.

49. What is the need of designing High Performance concrete (HPC)?

HPC can be designed to achieve specific requirements such as: enhanced
durability; high strength greater than M60; high early gain in strength for
precast bridge components ; high impermeability to withstand marine
exposure ; air entrainment to improve resistance to freezing and thawing ; and
special applications like spraying, pumping and placement under water.
50. What is the result of corrosion of reinforcement in reinforcing
concrete bridges?
Corrosion of reinforcement in a reinforced concrete bridge may lead to
cracking and spalling of concrete, rendering the bridge unsafe for modern
traffic. Potential damage due to corrosion in a backwater area can be
prevented only by careful attention to concrete cover to reinforcement, by
proper placement and compaction of concrete to avoid honeycombing, and by
proper curing with potable water.

51. What do you mean by fatigue? Give the example of fatigue failure of
bridge.
Fatigue may be defined as the gradual weakening of a structure due to
repetitive loading and is accompanied by spreading of a crack. If the steel is
corroded at the tip of the crack, progression of the crack is accelerated. An
example of fatigue failure is the 1967 collapse of the Point Pleasant Bridge in
West Virgina, USA.

52. Give the example of failure of bridge due to erection.

A recent example of errors in erection procedures is the failure in 1998 of the
Injaka bridge in South Africa, which resulted in 1 4 deaths including that of
the designer of the bridge. The prestressed concrete bridge of box section
collapsed during erection by incremental launching method, mainly due to
wrong placement of temporary bearings, which punched through the
inadequately designed soffit slab. The disaster highlighted the importance of
proper erection procedures.

53. What are the major causes of bridge failure?

About sixty per cent of the bridge failures are due to natural phenomena, i.e.
due to flood, earthquake and wind. Other major causes of failure include:
Defective design; Erection errors; Accidents (barge impact); Fatigue; and
Corrosion. The failure of a bridge is normally due to combination of several
effects and errors.
54. Why corrosion prevention is important in maintenance of prestressed
concrete bridge?
Corrosion of reinforcement in a reinforced concrete bridge may lead to
cracking and spalling of concrete, rendering the bridge unsafe for modern
traffic. Potential damage due to corrosion in a backwater area can be
prevented only by careful attention to concrete cover to reinforcement, by
proper placement and compaction of concrete to avoid honeycombing, and by
proper curing with potable water. The risk of corrosion for concrete bridges
may be reduced by adoption of a combination of preventive measures such as
provision of adequate concrete cover, use of high-performance concrete,
application of admixtures to inhibit corrosion, use of corrosion resistant
reinforcement, such as epoxy-coated bars, and exercise of good quality
control.
 4. PILE AND FOUNDATION

1. Which one is better choice, a large diameter pile or a group of small

piles with the same load capacity?
The choice of a large diameter pile suffers from the disadvantage that serious
consequences would occur in case there is setting out error of the pile.
Moreover, in terms of cost consideration, for the same load capacity, the cost
of group of small diameter piles is generally lower than that of a large
dimeter pile. On the other hand, for small diameter piles i.e., mini-piles, they
are advantageous in site locations with limited headroom and space. In
addition, in some structures with only a few piles, it is uneconomical because
of its high mobilization cost. (Reference is made to Dr. Edmund C Hambly –
1979)

2. What is shear strength of soil.

Shear strength of the soil is the resistance offered by soil grains against the
shear deformation. A soil may drive its shear strength from the following
parameters.
 Interlocking between particles (Sand and clay drive their strength
from this).
Friction between particles: due to sliding and rolling (Sand, Gravel
and Silt drive their strength from friction).
Intermolecular attraction i.e., adhesion and cohesion (Silt and clay
drive their strength from this).
3. What are the guidelines for selection of foundations?
Type of soil and loading Suitable Foundations
conditions
1 Structure load is less and soil Shallow foundation
is medium to dense
2 Structure load is heavy and Either raft or deep footing
soil is medium to
loose/weak
3 Structure load is very heavy Either Pile or pile+raft
and soil is medium to foundation
loose/weak
4 Structure load is heavy and Well foundation
foundation is to be placed
on running water
5 Soil is loose saturated sand Compaction piles
which is prone for
liquefication
6 Column spacing is less and Raft foundation or Combined
footing area is more than footing
40% of plinth area
7 If swelling pressure is high Either raft of deep foundation
and differential free swell
value is more than 35%
8 For Individual houses and Strip or isolated foundation
light buildings (one to four
storey)
9 If the soil is expansive (high Balancing/floating foundation
swelling and shrinkage) or under reamed pile
4. What is Negative Friction in piles?
Piles installed in freshly placed fills of soft compressible deposits are
subjected to a downward drag, a consequence of the consolidation of the
strata after the piles are installed. This downward drag on the pile surface,
when the soil moves down relative to the pile, adds to the structural loads and
is called negative friction. This is in contrast to the usual shaft friction which
is mobilesed when the pile moves down relative to the soil. Thus, negative
skin friction has an effect of reducing the allowable load on the pile.
5. How would you design the foundation of a structure in swelling soils?
The rational methods of foundation design which being used now to reduce
or prevent the effects of swelling can be grouped in three categories, namely
a. Isolating the structure from the swelling soil
b. Designing a structure to withstand the effects of swelling
c. Preventing the swelling.
Belled piers which are popular in USA for use in expansive soil conditions
are isolated structures on swelling soils. The under-reamed pile beam
construction is similar to that of belled piers and are designed for use under
Indian conditions. The principle involved is to transfer the load of a building
through the piles to a depth beyond the zone of seasonal variation in moisture
content. The under-reamed piles are bored cast-in-situ piles with their lower
portions enlarged or reamed in the form of a bulb. The piles are connected at
their top by plinth beams of reinforced concrete which support the super-
structure.
Designing a structure which is strong enough and rigid enough to withstand
the effects of swelling may prove to be highly uneconomical except in the
case of very small structures where even if the loads are supported by a
central area or peripheral area much smaller than the plan area, the bearing
pressures are within limits.
Swelling can often be controlled, if not eliminated, by providing an
impervious apron around the structure. By providing an apron, the moisture
gradient between the center of the structure and its edges is minimized and
hence the differential swelling is controlled.
6. What are the various conditions under which we prefer pile
foundations?
Pile foundations may be considered appropriate for bridges in the following
situations:
a. When the founding strata underlies deep standing water and soft
soil.
b. When the foundation level is more than 30 m below the water table,
so that pneumatic sinking of wells is difficult.
c. When suitable founding strata is available below a deep layer of soft
soil and
d. In conditions where pile foundations are more economical than
wells.
7. What are the different types of Cast in Situ Piles?
Cast-in-place concrete piles are constructed in their permanent position by
filling with concrete the holes which have been formed in the ground in
various ways for the purpose. There are two types:
a. The shell pile, in which a steel shell is first driven with a mandrel
and concrete is placed, leaving the shell in place, and
b. The shell-less pile, in which the pipe and mandrel used for making
the hole are removed as the concrete is filled in.
8. What do you mean by Well Foundation?
Ans: Well foundation (open caisson) is the most commonly adopted
foundation for major bridges in India. This type evolved in India, and has
been adopted for the Taj Mahal. Since then, many major bridges across wide
rivers have been founded on wells. Well foundation is preferable to pile
foundation when the foundation has to resist large lateral forces, the river bed
is prone to heavy scour, heavy floating debris are expected during floods and
when boulders are embedded in the substrata.
9. What are the different Shapes of Well used in case of their
foundation?
The shape of wells may be circular, double-D, square, rectangular, dumb,
bell, etc. The circular well has the merit of simplicity for construction and
sinking. Double-D, rectangular and dumb-bell shapes are used when the
bridge has multi-lane carriageway. For piers and abutments of very large
size used in cantilever, cable stayed or suspension bridges, large rectangular
wells with multiple dredge holes of square shape may be used.
10. What are the various factors considered in designing the thickness of
steining?
The following factors are to be considered while determining the thickness of
the steining:
a. It should be possible to sink the well without excessive kentledge.
b. The wells should not get damaged during sinking.
c. If the well develops tilts or shifts during sinking, it should be
possible to rectify the tilts and shifts without damaging the well.
d. The well should be able to resist safely the earth pressure developing
during a sand blow that may occur during sinking.
e. At any level of the steining, the stresses under all conditions of
loading that may occur during sinking or during service should be
within permissible limits.
11. Which material is used for constructing well steining?
The steining is normally of reinforced concrete. The concrete used for
steining kg/m3 of concrete with water/cement ratio not more than
0.45.
12. What is the role of Bottom Plug in well Foundation?
A bottom plug is essential to transfer the load from the well steining to the
base soil. It is usually provided for a thickness of about half the diameter of
the dredge hole. In practice the bottom plug is provided up to a height of 0.3
m above the top of well curb* The concrete used is of M20 grade, the
richness of the mix being necessitated by the possibility of loss of part of the
cement due to under-water placing of the concrete.
13. Explain the different types of Caisson foundation.
Caisson foundations are of two types:
 a. Open caissons (also known as well foundations in India)
b. Pneumatic caissons.
An open caisson is one that has no top or bottom cover during its sinking. It
is more popularly known as well foundation. A pneumatic caisson is a
caisson with a permanent or temporary roof near the bottom so arranged that,
men can work in the compressed air trapped under it. Pneumatic caisson can
be used for a depth of about 30 m below water level, beyond which pile
foundations would have to be resorted to.
14. What is Well Curb?
Well Curb. The well curb carries the cutting edge for the well and is made up
of reinforced concrete using controlled concrete of grade M25. The cutting
edge usually consists of a mild steel equal angle of side 150 mm. The angle
will have one side projecting downward from the curb for soils where
boulders are not expected. In soils mixed with boulders, the angle will have
the vertical leg embedded in the steining in such a manner that the horizontal
leg of the angle is flush with the bottom of the curb.
15. What do you mean by sinking of wells?
Ans. Well sinking is a specialized operation requiring considerable skill.
When a concrete well is to be sunk on shore or with shallow water depth, it is
usual to sink the well up to about 6 m by excavating the soil in the dredge
hole by employing skilled divers, and after dredging, pumping out water from
the sump to induce sinking. A tripod and a mechanical grab operated by a
power winch may also be used. The sinking of the well through the soil is
resisted by skin friction along the external surface of the well and by bearing
on the cutting edge at the bottom. These resistances are overcome by the dead
weight of the well steining reduced by the buoyancy of the submerged
portion.
 5. ENVIRONMENT & WATER
RESOURCES

1. What is hardness and its types?

The ability of the water to destroy the surfactant property of the soap is
referred as hardness of the water or it may also be defines as concentration of
all the multivalent cations present in the water.
Major constituents – Ca2+, Mg2+
Minor constituents – Al3+, Sr2+, Mn2+, Fe2+, Fe3+
Hardness of water is classified as
Carbonate Hardness – hardness due to carbonate and bicarbonate of
multivalent cation is referred as carbonate hardness. It is also termed as
temporary hardness, as it can be easily removed either by simple boiling or
by addition of lime in it.
Non-Carbonate Hardness – hardness due to chloride, sulphate and nitrate of
multivalent cation is referred as non-carbonate hardness. It is also termed as
permanent hardness as it can’t be removed either by simple boiling or by
addition of the lime water. Special techniques like softening is required for
the removal of this hardness.
2. What are the major impacts of hardness?
Following are the major impacts of hardness
a. Hard water leads to lesser formation of foam or leather with soap,
thereby increases its consumption.
b. Hardness due to MgSO4, if present in concentration more than 50
mg/l induces laxative affect.
c. Hardness in water in high concentration makes the food tasteless.
d. The prime objection of hardness is that it leads to both corrosion and
incrustation in pipes.
3. If there is chloride content present in water, what it indicates?
Presence of chloride content in water in high concentration indicates its
pollution due to sewage or industrial waste. It is determined by titrating it
with standard silver nitrate solution using potassium chromate as an indicator.
4. What are the forms of nitrogen present in water and what it indicates?
Presence of nitrogen in water indicates its pollution due to organic matter. It
may be found in any of the forms like
Free Ammonia – free ammonia in water indicates its recent
pollution. It is determined by simply boiling the water and noting the
amount of ammonia gas liberated. 0.15 mg/l is the acceptable limit.
Organic Ammonia – organic ammonia in water indicates presence
of nitrogen before the decomposition of organic matter has started. It
is determined by boiling the already boiled sample of water with the
addition of strong alkaline reagent like potassium permagnate and
noting the amount of ammonia gas liberated. 0.3 mg/l is the
acceptable limit.
Nitrite – presence of nitrite in water is highly dangerous as it
indicates the partial decomposition of organic matter. It is
determined by colour matching technique and colour is induced by
the addition of sulphonic acid and napthamine. 0 mg/l is the
acceptable limit.
Nitrate – presence of nitrate in water is not harmful as it indicates
complete decomposition of organic matter, however if it is present in
 excess it affects the infants (new born baby) and result in the disease
refereed as methemoglobinemia or Blue baby disease. It is
determined by colour matching technique and colour is induced by
the addition of phenol-di-sulphonic acid and potassium hydroxide.
45 mg/l is the acceptable limit.
5. What do you mean nitrification and denitrification?
The process in which ammonia gets converted into nitrate is referred as
nitrification and the process in which nitrate is converted into nitrogen is
referred as denitrification.
6. What is the mechanism involved in treatment of waste water (sewage)
by septic tank?
In septic tank, the treatment of sewage is carried out by anaerobic
decomposition. Septic tank is a sort of sedimentation tank with detention
period of 12 to 36 hours. The settled sludge gets digested in the of the tank.
Anaerobic decomposition evolves obnoxious gases and thus the septic tank is
covered with a lid provided with a shaft for the escape of gases so formed.
The digested sludge at the bottom of the tank is removed periodically
(usually in intervals of 3 to 6 months).
7. Tell us about the treatment of water with ozone.
It is a disinfection method. Ozone when added in water dissociates into
molecular and nascent oxygen which is a strong oxidizing agent that carries
out the removal of both micro-organisms and organic matter from the water.
But being highly reactive it doesn’t remain in the water for long time, hence
doesn’t safeguard the water against future recontamination. Ozone destroys
the cell walls of the micro-organisms in order to carry out the disinfection.
Unlike other disinfectant it adds pleasant taste in the water but is
comparatively costlier. Its dose varies in the range of 2 to 3 ppm.
O3 (Ozone) + H2O (Water) à O2 + O (Nascent Oxygen)
8. Tell us about the water treatment with chlorine.
Chlorination is the major method of water disinfection. Chlorine is added in
water reacts with it a pH of greater than 5 and leads to the formation of highly
unstable hypochlorous acid which further dissociates in hypochlorite ion at
pH of greater than 8. All the three forms of chlorine i.e. molecular chlorine,
hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion are capable of carrying out the
disinfection and is referred as freely available chlorine. Out of all of them,
hypochlorous acid is the most destructive disinfectant (80 times more
effective than hypochlorite ion), hence the pH of the water is maintained to
be slightly less than 7 during disinfection. Chlorine destroys the enzymes of
the micro-organism responsible for the metabolism in them in order to carry
out the disinfection.
Chlorine immediately reacts with ammonia present in the water and leads to
the formation of chloramines which are referred as combined form of
chlorines which also act as a disinfectant but effectiveness of which id 25
times less than that of freely available chlorine but it remains for longer
duration in water thereby safeguard it against future recontamination.
9. What is Domestic Water Demand?
Domestic water demand is the amount of water required to satisfy the
domestic needs like drinking, cooking, washing, bathing etc... For a city
having flushing system, it is in the range of 135 to 225 l/c/d (litre per capita
per day), normally taken to be 200 l/c/d.
10. Tell us about the different types of pipes used in Raw water supply.
Cast Iron pipes – these pipes are highly durable for possess long life and
resistant against corrosion upto reasonable extent, easy to join and are heavy
in weight, hence offers transformational cost. These pipes can resist heavy
loads but cannot take high pressure hence are used as distribution mains.
Steel Pipes – these pipes are light in weight, can resist high pressure but
cannot take heavy load hence are used as pumping mains.
GI Pipe – these pipes can resist acidic or alkaline action of the water. Rest all
properties are same as CI pipe.
RCC Pipe – these pipes are highly resistant against corrosion and can take
both, heavy load and high pressure but have very limited application in raw
water scheme as they offer very less durability.
Asbestos Pipes – these pipes are light in weight, resistant against corrosion
and are highly flexible thus do not require joint in their layout.
11. What is the use of Gate valve and check valve?
Gate/Sluice Valve – these valves are used to regulate the flow of the water in
the pipe network by dividing it into number of sections. These valves are
placed at the summit point in the pipe network as pressure to be restricted by
these valves is minimum at these points, thereby requiring lower strength of
the material which in turn reduces the cost of these valves.
Check valve/ Non-return valve/ Reflux valve – these valves are provided in
order to ensure the flow of the water in one direction. These are generally
provided on either side of the pump in order to check the flow of the water in
opposite direction.
12. What do you understand by sewage, sanitary sewage and sullage?
Sewage – mixture of water and liquid base generated due to different
activities in the community is referred as sewage. If it is generated due to
domestic activity, then it is referred as domestic sewage, if it is generated due
to industrial activities then it’s called industrial sewage and if it is generated
after heavy rain storm it is referred as drainage or runoff.
Sanitary Sewage – Domestic and Industrial sewage taken together is referred
as sanitary sewage.
Sullage – Kitchen and bathroom waste taken together is referred as sullage.
13. What is self-cleansing velocity of sewers?
Self-cleansing velocity is that which doesn’t permits the settlement of the
solids in the sewers moreover also carries out the removal of the solids which
have already settled in it. For 1 mm inorganic particles and 5 mm organic
particles, self-cleansing velocity is o.45 m/s. These are the size of the
particles which are generally present in the sewage.
14. Why egg-shaped sewers are preferred for combined sewer system
(sewage as well as drainage).
Circular section in sewers are provided only in separate sewerage system as
its advantage is available throughout the year in this case. But in combined
sewerage system where a single sewer is provided to carry both drainage and
sanitary sewage discharge, advantage of circular section would be available
only during the rainy season but as for most part of the year the sewer would
run less than half full, hence in such a case, two circular section are adopted
in a way that upper bigger circular sections is effective during the rainy
season and lower circular section is effective during dry weather flow. This
section appears like an egg in shape hence is referred as egg-shaped sewer.
15. Which type of relationship is develop between algae and aerobic
micro-organisms into the oxidation pond.
Oxidation Pond is an open flow to an earthen channel which provides
comparatively long retention time of 2 to 6 weeks, during which micro-
organisms comes in contact with organic matter leading to its decomposition.
In these ponds special type of relationship exists between algae and aerobic
micro-organisms. Algae produces oxygen during photosynthesis which is
utilized by the aerobic micro-organisms for the decomposition of organic
matter leading to the formation of biomass which is utilize by the algae as
nutrient. Such special type of relationship is referred as symbiotic
relationship.
[Extra] this type of relationship also exists between aerobic and anaerobic
micro-organisms, where anaerobic microorganisms produce gases during
decomposition which rises to the surface and is utilized as the source of
energy by aerobic micro-organisms and the biomass formed during anaerobic
decomposition settles to get utilized as nutrients by anaerobic micro-
organisms.
16. Which method is used for the disposal of biomedical waste?
Autoclaving method is used. It is a low heat thermal process in which
biomedical waste is brought in intimate contact with steam under controlled
temperature and pressure condition to carry out the disinfection.
17. Which one is the most suitable solid waste disposal method for rural
areas?
Composting is the most suitable method as it’s nature’s process of recycling
decomposed organic materials into a rich soil known as compost, manure or
humus. Anything that was once living will decompose. Finished compost
looks like soil having dark brown colour, crumbly and smells like a forest
floor.
18. Why design engineers prefer ductile material over brittle materials?
Ductile materials give indication in the form of yielding (plastic deformation
or permanent deformation) before fracture whereas brittle material doesn’t
give any indication in the form of yielding and sudden fracture will occur.
19. What should be the rain gauge density as per Indian Standard.
As per IS –
For plain region – 1 station per 520 km2
For regions having average clavation of 1000 m - 1 station per 266-390 km2
For hilly region with heavy rainfall - 1 station per 130 km2
As per actual data available, India is having rain gauge density of 1 station
per 600 km2 which is insufficient.
20. What is the difference between vapour and gas?
Vapour is a form of gas of which pressure and temperature conditions are
such that it can be easily converted into liquid.
21. What are the methods used to reduce the evaporation losses in
reservoirs?
Following are the methods
a. Reduction in surface area – by providing more depth we can
reduce the surface area without any change in total volume. It will
reduce the surface area of the reservoir.
b. Providing mechanical covers – this can be done by providing some
covers or shed and is useful for small water bodies.
c. Using chemical films – certain chemicals such as hexadecanol
(cetyl alcohol) and octadecanol (stearyl alcohol) are known to
reduce evaporation rate. A thin colourless, odourless and non-toxic
film is formed on water surface which doesn’t break easily and
recovers easily if damaged. The film should allow free circulation of
oxygen and carbon di oxide to sustain aquatic life.
22. What is catchment area?
The area draining into a river or stream is called the catchment area.
23. What are the different forms of precipitation?
a. Rain – this is the principle mode of precipitation in India. It denotes
water droplets ranging from 0.5 mm to 6 mm.
b. Snow – these are ice crystals having a density of 0.1 gm/cc.
c. Drizzle – this denotes fine droplets of water whose size is less than
0.5 mm and intensity is less than 1 mm/hr.
d. Glaze – in this form of precipitation when droplets of water comes
into contact with cold ground surface (which is approx. 00 C) than
water droplets is converted into ice, which is called glaze.
e. Sleet – these are the frozen rain drops of transparent grain.
f. Hail – these are lumps of ice whose size is more than 8 mm.
24. Name some methods to determine evaporation?
a. Pan measurement method
b. Using empirical formula
c. Storage equation method or water budget equation
d. Energy budget equation
25. What is infiltration of water?
Infiltration is the movement of water through the soil into the ground water
table. the maximum rate at which the water can be absorbed by the soil is
called the infiltration capacity. This capacity is maximum at the beginning of
the storm and it gradually decreases to a constant value i.e. permeability of
soil.
26. Explain irrigation and its techniques.
The science of artificial application of water to the land as per the crop
requirement is known as irrigation
Some of the irrigation techniques are:
a. Free flooding – this is also called as ordinary or wild flooding
because the movement of water is not restricted. This method of
irrigation is suitable foe close growing crops (wheat and rice).
 Irrigation efficiency of this method is low and also this method is
suitable for rolling land.
b. Border flooding – in this method the land is divided into number
of strips which are separated by low levees which are also called
as borders. The land area is confined between 10 to 20 m width
having a length of 100 to 400 m depending upon the soil quality
and slope.
c. Check flooding – this method is similar to the ordinary flooding
except that the water is controlled by surrounding the area with
low and flat levees. The confined plot area (check area) varies
from 0.2 to 0.8 hectares. This method is suitable for more
permeable as well as less permeable soils.
d. Basin flooding – this method is similar to check flooding and is
adopted for orchard trees, mango trees etc.
e. Furrow irrigation method – in this method of irrigation only 20
to 50 % of land surface is wetted by water. Furrow are narrow
field ditches excavated between rows of plants and carries
irrigation water. In this method evaporation losses are reduced.
f. Sprinkler irrigation – in this method water is applied through a
network of pipes and pumps. This method is suitable when (a)
topography is irregular or rolling (b) when water table is high (c)
when water is not easily available (d) for permeable as well as
impermeable soil.
g. Drip water irrigation – in this method water is directly applied
to the root zones of the plant using drip nozzles. Evaporation and
percolation losses are very less. This is the most efficient method.
27. What is Delta and Duty of crops?
Delta - This is the total depth of water needed by a crop during the entire
base period.
Duty of Crops – It is the relationship between volume of water available to
the area which can be irrigated for a particular crop. The area which can be
irrigated by 1 cumec of discharge when it is available throughout the base
period, is called the duty of crops.
28. What is base period and crop period?
Base Period – this is a total period for which watering is applied to the field.
It starts from first watering just before the sowing of the crop to the last water
just before the harvesting.
Crop Period – it is the time between the instant of sowing of crop to the
instant of harvesting. Crop period is slightly greater than or equal to base
period.
29. What are the advantages and disadvantages of canal lining?
Advantages
a. Seepage control – about 3 to 30% of water which is lossed in the
form of seepage is prevented.
b. Prevention of water logging.
c. Increase in channel capacity by permitting a higher velocity.
d. Reduction in maintenance cost by about 40 to 50%.
e. Increase in command area.
f. Elimination of flood danger.
Disadvantages
a. Large initial investment (about 2 to 2.5 times that of unlined canal)
b. It takes too much time to complete the project work.
 6. RENEWABLE ENERGY

1. What do you mean by Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy?

Renewable energy is energy obtained from sources that are essentially
inexhaustible. Examples of renewable resources include wind power, solar
power, geothermal energy, tidal power and hydroelectric. The most important
feature of renewable energy is that it can be harnessed without the release of
harmful pollutants.
Non-renewable energy is the conventional fossil fuels such as coal, oil and
gas, which are likely to deplete with time.
2. How the Energy Consumption and Standard of Living related to each
other?
The energy consumption of a nation can be broadly divided into the
following areas or sectors depending on energy-related activities. These can
be further subdivided into subsectors:
a. Domestic sector (houses and offices including commercial
buildings)
b. Transportation sector
 c. Agriculture sector
d. Industry sector
Consumption of a large amount of energy in a country indicates increased
activities in these sectors. This may imply better comforts at home due to use
of various appliances, better transport facilities and more agricultural and
industrial production. All of this amount to a better quality of life. Therefore,
the per capita energy consumption of a country is an index of the standard of
living or prosperity (i.e., income) of the people of the country.
3. How much percentage decline in Global energy consumption and
carbon emissions in the year 2020?
2020 is the year of Covid, So the decline in Global Energy Consumption and
carbon emissions is -4.5% and -6.3% respectively, the largest fall since 1945
(as per “bp Statistical Review of World Energy 2021”)
4. Is there any impact of Corona on Renewable Energy?
As per the production scenario, there is no impact of Covid-19 on Renewable
Energy. Despite the huge disruptions associated with the global pandemic,
wind and solar capacity increased by a colossal 238 GW in 2021 – 50%
larger than at any time in history.
5. What is Reserves/Production (R/P) Ratio?
It is the ratio of the reserves remaining at the end of the year are divided by
the production in that year, the result is the length of time that the remaining
reserves would last if production were to continue at that level.
6. What is the potential of Renewable Power Generation in India?
There is high potential for generation of renewable energy from various
sources- wind, solar, biomass, small hydro and cogeneration bagasse. The
total potential for renewable power generation in the country as on
31.03.2019 is estimated at 1097465 MW. This includes solar power potential
of 748990 MW (68.25%), wind power potential of 302251 MW (27.54%) at
100m hub height, SHP (small-hydro power) potential of 21134 MW (1.93%),
Biomass power of 17,536 MW (1.60%), 5000 MW (0.46%) from bagasse-
based cogeneration in sugar mills and 2554 MW (0.23%) from waste to
energy. (As per India Energy Statistics 2020).
7. What is the State-wise potential of Renewable Power Generation in
India?
The geographic distribution of the estimated potential of renewable power as
on 31.03.2019 reveals that Rajasthan has the highest share of about 15%
(162223 MW), followed by Gujarat with 11% share 122086 MW) and
Maharashtra& Jammu and Kashmir with 10% share (113925MW and 112800
MW respectively), mainly on account of solar power potential except Gujarat
where the share of Wind Power is the highest. (As per India Energy Statistics
2020).
8. Which State of India have the highest installed capacity of Grid
Connected renewable power?
Karnataka had the highest installed capacity of grid connected renewable
power (13844.99 MW) followed by Tamil Nadu (12671.13 MW) and
Maharashtra (9331.93 MW), mainly on account of wind and solar power.
9. What is Energy Intensity?
Energy intensity is energy consumption per unit of GDP. Energy intensity
indicates the development stage of the country. India's energy intensity is 3.7
times of Japan, 1.55 times of USA, 1.47 times of Asia and 1.5 times of World
average.
10. How the usage of energy resources affects the environment?
The usage of energy resources in industry leads to environmental damages by
polluting the atmosphere. Few of examples of air pollution are Sulphur
dioxide (SO2), Nitrous oxide (NOX) and Carbon monoxide (CO) emissions
from boilers and furnaces, Chloro-fluoro carbons (CFC) emissions from
refrigerants use, etc. In chemical and fertilizers industries, toxic gases are
released. Cement plants and power plants spew out particulate matter etc.
11. What are the principle pollutants?
The principle pollutants produced by industrial, domestic and traffic sources
are Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide,
ozone, hydrocarbons, benzene, 1,3butadiene, toxic organic micro pollutants,
lead and heavy metals.
11. How Sulphur dioxide affects our environment?
Sulphur dioxide is a corrosive acid gas, which combines with water vapour in
the atmosphere to produce acid rain. Both wet and dry deposition have been
implicated in the damage and destruction of vegetation and in the degradation
of soils, building materials and watercourses. SO2 in ambient air is also
associated with asthma and chronic bronchitis. The principal source of this
gas is power stations and industries burning fossil fuels, which contain
Sulphur.
12. How Nitrogen oxide formed and what are its negative effects?
Nitrogen oxides are formed during high temperature combustion processes
from the oxidation of nitrogen in the air or fuel. The principal source of
nitrogen oxides - nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). NO and NO2
concentrations are greatest in urban areas where traffic is heaviest. Other
important sources are power stations and industrial processes.
Nitrogen dioxide has a variety of environmental and health impacts. It
irritates the respiratory system and may worsen asthma and increase
susceptibility to infections. In the presence of sunlight, it reacts with
hydrocarbons to produce photochemical pollutants such as ozone.
13. Explain Climatic change due to combustion of fossil fuels?
Human activities, particularly the combustion of fossil fuels, have made the
blanket of green- house gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone
etc.) around the earth thicker. The resulting increase in global temperature is
altering the complex web of systems that allow life to thrive on earth such as
rainfall, wind patterns, ocean currents and distribution of plant and animal
species.
14. What are the future effects of Climatic change?
Even the minimum predicted shifts in climate for the 21st century are likely
to be significant and disruptive. Predictions of future climatic changes are
wide-ranging. The global temperature may climb from 1.4 to 5.8 degrees C;
the sea level may rise from 9 to 88 cm. Thus, increases in sea level this
century is expected to range from significant to catastrophic. This uncertainty
reflects the complexity, interrelatedness, and sensitivity of the natural
systems that make up the climate.
15. Tell us about Solar Energy.
Solar energy is an important, clean, cheap and abundantly available
renewable energy. It is received on Earth in cyclic, intermittent and dilute
form with very low power density 0 to 1 kW/m2.Solar energy received on the
ground level is affected by atmospheric clarity, degree of latitude, etc. For
design purpose, the variation of available solar power, the optimum tilt angle
of solar flat plate collectors, the location and orientation of the heliostats
should be calculated.
16. What are the units of Solar Power and Solar Energy?
In SI units, energy is expressed in Joule. Other units are angley and Calorie
where,
1 angley = 1 Cal/cm2.day
1 Cal = 4.186 J
For solar energy calculations, the energy is measured as an hourly or monthly
or yearly average and is expressed in terms of kJ/m2/day or kJ/m2/hour and
Solar power is expressed in terms of W/m2 or kW/m2.
17. What is Solar thermal Energy?
Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for
harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy or electrical energy for
use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors.
18. What are the Solar Collectors?
Solar collectors are used to collect the solar energy and convert the incident
radiations into thermal energy by absorbing them. This heat is extracted by
flowing fluid (air or water or mixture with antifreeze) in the tube of the
collector for further utilization in different applications. The collectors are
classified as;
a. Non concentrating collectors
b. Concentrating (focusing) collectors
19. Tell us about the inverters used in solar industry?
Inverters are used to convert DC to AC. There are two types of inverters:
standalone and grid-connected. The two types have several similarities, but
are different in terms of control functions.
A stand-alone inverter is used in off-grid applications with battery storage.
With backup diesel generators (such as PV–diesel hybrid power systems), the
inverters may have additional control functions such as operating in parallel
with diesel generators and bidirectional operation (battery charging and
inverting). Grid-interactive inverters must follow the voltage and frequency
characteristics of the utility-generated power presented on the distribution
line. For both types of inverters, the conversion efficiency is a very important
consideration.
20. What is Solar Cell?
The basic element of a PV system is the solar cell. Solar cells can convert the
energy of sunlight directly into electricity. Solar cells rely on a quantum-
mechanical process known as the ‘‘photovoltaic effect’’ to produce
electricity. A typical solar cell consists of a p n junction formed in a
semiconductor material similar to a diode. It consists of a 0.2–0.3mm thick
monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon wafer having two layers with
different electrical properties formed by ‘‘doping’’ it with other impurities
(e.g., boron and phosphorus). An electric field is established at the junction
between the negatively doped (using phosphorus atoms) and the positively
doped (using boron atoms) silicon layers. If light is incident on the solar cell,
the energy from the light (photons) creates free charge carriers, which are
separated by the electrical field. An electrical voltage is generated at the
external contacts, so that current can flow when a load is connected.
21. What are the most common types of material suitable for the
manufacturing of Solar cells?
A number of semiconductor materials are suitable for the manufacture of
solar cells. The most common types using silicon semiconductor material (Si)
are:
a. Monocrystalline Si cells
b. Polycrystalline Si cells
c. Amorphous Si cells
22. What are the major factors influencing the electrical design of the
solar array?
The major factors influencing the electrical design of the solar array are as
follows:
a. The sun intensity,
b. The sun angle,
c. The load matching for maximum power,
d. The operating temperature
23. What do you understand by Sun-Tracking?
More energy is collected by the end of the day if the PV module is installed
on a tracker with an actuator that follows the sun. There are two types of sun
trackers:
a. One-axis tracker, which follows the sun from east to west during the
day.
b. Two-axis tracker, which follows the sun from east to west during the
day, and from north to south during the seasons of the year.
What are the major types of Photovoltaic Power Systems?
Photovoltaic Power Systems can be classified as
a. Stand-alone PV systems – Stand-alone PV systems are used in
remote areas with no access to a utility grid. Conventional power systems
used in remote areas often based on manually controlled diesel generators
operating continuously or for a few hours. Extended operation of diesel
generators at low load levels significantly increases maintenance costs and
reduces their useful life.
b. Hybrid PV Systems – Renewable energy sources such as PV can be
added to remote area power systems using diesel and other fossil fuel
powered generators to provide 24-hour power economically and
efficiently. Such systems are called ‘‘hybrid energy systems.
c. Grid Connected PV Systems – In grid-connected PV systems, PV
panels are connected to a grid through inverters without battery storage.
These systems can be classified as small systems, such as residential
rooftop systems or large grid connected systems. The grid interactive
 inverters must be synchronized with the grid in terms of voltage and
frequency.
24. What is the use of Wind Turbine?
The wind turbine captures the wind’s kinetic energy in a rotor consisting of
two or more blades mechanically coupled to an electrical generator. The
turbine is mounted on a tall tower to enhance the energy capture. Numerous
wind turbines are installed at one site to build a wind farm of the desired
power generation capacity.
25. What are the two different configurations available for turbine
design?
Two distinctly different configurations are available for turbine design, the
horizontal axis and the vertical-axis configuration. The horizontal-axis
machine has been the standard in Denmark from the beginning of the wind
power industry. Therefore, it is often called the Danish wind turbine. The
vertical-axis machine has the shape of an egg beater and is often called the
Darrieus rotor after its inventor. It has been used in the past because of its
specific structural advantage. However, most modern wind turbines use a
horizontal axis design.
26. What are the advantages of forecasting Wind Speed?
A reliable forecast of wind speed several hours in advance can give the
following benefits:
a. Generating schedule can efficiently accommodate wind generation
in a timely manner.
b. Allows the grid-connected wind farm to commit to power purchase
contracts in advance for a better price.
c. Allows investors to proceed with new wind farms and avoid the
penalties they must pay if they do not meet their hourly generation
targets.
27. What are the basic components for a Wind Power System?
The wind power system comprises one or more wind turbine units operating
electrically in parallel. Each turbine is made of the following basic
components:
 a. Tower structure
b. Rotor with two or three blades attached to the hub
c. Shaft with mechanical gear
d. Electrical generator
e. Yaw mechanism, such as the tail vane
f. Sensors and control
28. How can you decide the Wind Tower heights in a wind farm?
Tall towers are beneficial, but the height must be optimized with the local
regulations and constrains of the terrain and neighborhood. Nacelle weight
and structural dynamics are also important considerations.
29. How can you decide the spacing between the Wind Towers in a wind
farm?
When installing a cluster of machines in a wind farm, certain spacing
between the wind towers must be maintained to optimize the energy crop
over the year. The spacing depends on the terrain, wind direction, wind
speed, and turbine size.
The optimum spacing is found in rows 8 to 12 rotor diameters apart in the
wind direction, and 2 to 4 rotor diameters apart in the crosswind direction. A
wind farm consisting of 20 towers, rated at 500 kW each, needs 1 to 2 km2 of
land area. Of this, less than 5% of the land is actually required for turbine
towers and access roads. The remaining land could continue its original use.
30. What are the major factors considered in deciding the number of
blades in a wind turbine?
The major factors involved in deciding the number of blades are as follows:
a. The effect on power coefficient
b. The design TSR (Tip Speed Ratio)
c. The means of limiting yaw rate to reduce the gyroscopic fatigue
Compared to the two-blade design, the three-blade machine has smoother
power output and a balanced gyroscopic force. There is no need to teeter the
rotor, allowing the use of a simple rigid hub.
31. Tell us about use of Batteries in Solar or Wind power systems?
The battery stores energy in an electrochemical form and is the most widely
used device for energy storage in a variety of applications. The
electrochemical energy is in a semi-ordered form, which is in between the
electrical and thermal forms. It has a one-way conversion efficiency of 85 to
90%.
There are two basic types of electrochemical batteries:
The primary battery, which converts chemical energy into electric energy.
The electrochemical reaction in a primary battery is nonreversible, and the
battery is discarded after a full discharge. For this reason, it finds applications
where a high energy density for one-time use is required.
The secondary battery, which is also known as the rechargeable battery.
The electrochemical reaction in the secondary battery is reversible. After a
discharge, it can be recharged by injecting a direct current from an external
source. This type of battery converts chemical energy into electric
energy in the discharge mode. In the charge mode, it converts the electric
energy into chemical energy. In both modes, a small fraction of energy is
converted into heat, which is dissipated to the surrounding medium. The
round-trip conversion efficiency is between 70 and 80%.
32. What are the major types of Batteries?
There are at least six major rechargeable electro-chemistries available today.
They are as follows:
a. Lead-acid (Pb-acid)
b. Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd)
c. Nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH)
d. Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
e. Lithium-polymer (Li-poly)
f. Zinc-air
33. What are the basic performance characteristics, which influence the
battery design?
The basic performance characteristics, which influence the battery design, are
as follows:
a. Charge/discharge (C/D) voltages
 b. C/D ratio
c. Round-trip energy efficiency
d. Charge efficiency
e. Internal impedance
f. Temperature rise
g. Life in number of C/D cycles
34. How the temperature effects the Battery performance?
, the operating temperature significantly influences the battery performance
as follows:
a. The capacity and charge efficiency decrease with increasing
temperature.
b. The capacity drops at temperatures above or below a certain range,
and drops sharply at temperatures below freezing.
c. The self-discharge rate increases with temperature.
d. The internal resistance increases with decreasing temperature.
35. What are the phases of Battery Charging?
Normal charging has the following three phases:
a. Bulk (fast) charge, which deposits 80 to 90% of the drained capacity
b. Taper charge, in which the charge rate is gradually cut back to top
off the remaining capacity
c. Trickle (float) charge after the battery is fully charged to counter the
self-discharge rate
36. What do you mean by Microgrid?
A micro-grid is a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy
resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single
controllable entity with respect to the grid. If desired, a microgrid can connect
and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both Grid connected or
island mode.
37. How does a micro-grid work?
The grid connects homes, businesses and other buildings to central power
sources, which allow us to use appliances, heating/cooling systems and
electronics. But this interconnectedness means that when part of the grid
needs to be repaired, everyone is affected.
This is where a micro-grid can help. A micro-grid generally operates while
connected to the grid, but importantly, it can break off and operate on its own
using local energy generation in times of crisis like storms or power outages,
or for other reasons.
A micro-grid can be powered by distributed generators, batteries, and/or
renewable resources like solar panels. Depending on how it’s fueled and how
its requirements are managed, a microgrid might run indefinitely.
38. How does a micro-grid connect to the grid?
A micro-grid connects to the grid at a point of common coupling that
maintains voltage at the same level as the main grid unless there is some sort
of problem on the grid or other reason to disconnect. A switch can separate
the micro-grid from the main grid automatically or manually, and it then
functions as an island.