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Assalam-o-alaikum! start of professional career as an engineer, in the USA, is not a simple and easy process. Although actual requirements may vary somewhat from state to state, but generally a four-step process has to be followed for obtaining license to work as an independent professional engineer. (See the thread: http://www.sepakistan.com/topic/1610-benefits-of-getting-pe- licence/#entry3958, for learning the benefits of having a PE license.) Step 1: Graduating from an accredited engineering program (e.g., B.E./B.S./M.S in Civil Engineering,...) Step 2: Passing 'Fundamentals of Engineering' (FE) exam (Details available at: http://ncees.org/exams/fe-exam/) and to become eligible for being classified as an intern, also known as Engineering Intern (EI) or Engineer-in-Training (EIT). Step 3: Obtaining required length of work experience relevant to chosen engineering discipline, after passing the FE exam. In many cases, the experience period is to be supervised by a licensed engineer, depending upon specific requirements of concerned State Licensing Board. Step 4: Passing 'Principles and Practice of Engineering' (PE) exam. Once an engineer has successfully completed the first three steps of this process, he/she may take the second exam in the licensing - the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. The PE exam tests the ability of an engineer to practice competently in a particular engineering discipline. It is designed for engineers who have gained at least four years’ post-college work experience in their chosen engineering discipline. Each PE exam has a total duration of 8 hours, and is split into a morning and an afternoon session. PE exam specifications and design standards, applicable for the forthcoming exam are posted on NCEES web site, 6 months before the exam date. Updates for April exams are posted in November, and updates for October exams are posted in May. The specifications and details of design standards for PE Exams 2015, related to five (5) Civil Engineering disciplines, are available at following links: Civil - Construction (https://cdn.ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Civ-Con-April-2015_Combined.pdf) Civil - Geotechnical (https://cdn.ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Civ-Geo-April-2015_Combined2.pdf) Civil - Structural (https://cdn.ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Civ-Str-April-2015_Combined2.pdf) Civil - Transportation (https://cdn.ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Civ-Tran-April-2015_Combined.pdf) Civil - Water Resources and Environmental (https://cdn.ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Civ-WRE-April-2015_Combined.pdf) The PE exam is an open-book exam. The examinees are allowed to bring reference materials to the exam, provided they are bound and remain bound during the exam. Further details regarding PE exam can be found at: http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/ The design codes and manuals referred in these documents, are the ones to be followed all across the US, for the structural design of all kind of engineered structures. As such, these are the most important references, a civil or structural engineer (working in a jurisdiction, where US design codes are the basis of engineering design) will need to know, learn, and follow in his/her engineering design practice. Hopefully, this information will not only be beneficial for those, interested in taking the PE exam in near future, but would also help us improve our knowledge and understanding of code requirements regarding design and construction of various kind of civil engineering works. This, in turn, will make our structures safer as well as more code-compliant. Regards.

Aoa. IMHO, following are the answers to your questions: A/Q1: You may need to adopt one or more of the following actions: a. increase beam size, b. reduce ties spacing, c. increase diameter of ties, d. use higher yield strength steel for ties A/Q2: You might have used Fixed support on both sides. Try using Hinged support on one side and Pinned support on the other. A/Q3: Required foundation size (area) INCREASES with REDUCTION in soil bearing capacity. For very low bearing capacity, you might have to go for raft footing or piles. In SAFE version 8, you may check two-way shear by using 'Design -> Display punching Shear Ratios' Menu option. A/Q4: Mass is used in dynamic analysis and calculated using formula, m = w / g ; where m is mass, w is weight and g is acceleration due to gravity. A/Q5: 'P-Delta Analysis' is carried out to account for length effects in columns (buckling). On the other hand, 'Dynamic Analysis' is carried out to study the effects of time-varying forces (earthquake etc) on the structure. A/Q6: Concrete compressive strength (f'c) is important for calculating various material properties. On the other hand, strength of concrete depend upon several parameters, like ratio of cement, sand and aggregate; water-cement ratio, age on testing, strength of aggregate, curing method, etc. etc. A/Q7. In SAFE, punching shear results are displayed as a ratio of maximum calculated shear with respect to capacity. A ratio of 1.0 indicates that maximum calculated shear is equal to the maximum capacity of the section. Hope this is helpful.