Construction Engineering accounts for 8 to 12 questions on the 110-question FE Civil exam. That is more than dynamics and ethics combined, and the problem types are narrow and highly repeatable: build a CPM network and find float, run earned value indicators, convert earthwork between bank and compacted volumes, or price a quantity off a takeoff.
That predictability is what makes these questions worth points. A CPM problem takes two passes and about ninety seconds once the procedure is automatic. The problems below are solved that way, showing the forward pass, the backward pass, and where the float actually lands, instead of jumping straight to a lettered answer.
Exam weight: NCEES lists Construction Engineering at 8-12 questions of the 110-question FE Civil exam. Work each problem below on paper first, then reveal the worked solution — reading a solution you have not attempted builds recognition, not recall.
What NCEES Tests in Construction Engineering
The NCEES outline covers construction operations and methods, project scheduling, estimating, interpretation of plans and specifications, construction control, materials handling, and temporary structures. Scheduling is the heaviest single piece: activity-on-node networks, early and late start and finish times, total float and free float, identifying the critical path, and the effect of crashing an activity on both project duration and total cost.
Estimating and control bring in quantity takeoff, unit costs, equipment productivity and cycle times, and earned value indicators including cost variance, schedule variance, CPI, and SPI. Temporary structures appear as formwork pressure, shoring, and bracing. Safety questions stay conceptual, usually trench protective systems and excavation depth thresholds rather than detailed OSHA citations.
5 Free Construction Engineering Practice Problems
Each construction engineering problem below comes from the FEExamClick FE Civil question bank, with worked solutions, and matches the style, difficulty and format of the real exam. Attempt each one under a three-minute limit — roughly the pace the exam demands.
Problem 1 — C. Project controls (e.g., earned value, scheduling, allocation of resources, activity relationships)
Activity A (duration 5 days) has a finish-to-start relationship with activity B with a lag of 3 days (B starts 3 days after A finishes). If A starts on Day 0, on what day does B start?
Answer: D) Day 8
Step 1 – Identify given information: Activity A starts Day 0, duration \( = 5 \;\text{days} \), finish-to-start relationship with B, lag \( = 3 \;\text{days} \).
Step 2 – Finish-to-start with lag: In an FS+lag relationship, the successor starts a specified number of days after the predecessor finishes:
$$\text{B start} = \text{A start} + \text{A duration} + \text{lag}$$
Step 3 – Substitute and solve:
$$\text{B start} = 0 + 5 + 3 = \text{Day } 8$$
Step 4 – Answer: B starts on Day 8. The 3-day lag represents a mandatory waiting period after A finishes (e.g., concrete curing time). Without the lag, B would start on Day 5. Option (B) Day 5 ignores the lag, and (D) Day 10 doubles the lag.
Reading the finish-to-start lag as if it ran from activity A's start, so the 5-day duration of A is never added and B is scheduled three days after A begins rather than three days after A ends.
Correct answer: (D)
Problem 2 — C. Project controls (e.g., earned value, scheduling, allocation of resources, activity relationships)
A task requires \( 960 \) labor-hours. It must be completed in \( 12 \) days. Each worker provides \( 8 \,\mathrm{hr/day} \) with efficiency \( 0.85 \). How many workers are required (nearest whole worker)?
Answer: B) \( 12 \) workers
Step 1 – Effective hours per worker:
$$12 \times 8 \times 0.85 = 81.6 \text{ hr}$$
Step 2 – Workers needed:
$$\frac{960}{81.6} = 11.76 \Rightarrow 12 \text{ workers}$$
Option (D) is what you get by knocking weekends out of the 12-day duration. That leaves about 8.6 working days and inflates the crew to 16; the problem gives 12 calendar days of work, with no weekend exclusion stated.
Correct answer: (B)
Problem 3 — D. Construction estimating
A slab is \( 30 \,\mathrm{ft} \) by \( 40 \,\mathrm{ft} \) by \( 6 \,\mathrm{in} \) thick. Include \( 5\% \) waste. What concrete volume is required (\( \mathrm{yd}^3 \)), nearest \( 0.1 \,\mathrm{yd}^3 \)?
Answer: C) \( 23.3 \,\mathrm{yd}^3 \)
Step 1 – Volume:
$$V = 30 \times 40 \times 0.5 = 600 \text{ ft}^3 = \frac{600}{27} = 22.22 \text{ yd}^3$$
Step 2 – With 5% waste:
$$22.22 \times 1.05 = 23.33 \approx 23.3 \text{ yd}^3$$
Correct answer: (C)
Problem 4 — C. Project controls (e.g., earned value, scheduling, allocation of resources, activity relationships)
An AON network (days): \( A(3) \) and \( B(4) \) start. \( C(6) \) after A. \( D(5) \) after A. \( E(2) \) after B and C. \( F(7) \) after D. \( G(3) \) after E and F. What is the total float of activity C (days)?
Answer: D) \( 4 \) days
Step 1 – Identify given information: Same AON network as CONST021. Activity C has duration \( 6 \) days, predecessor A (duration \( 3 \)). Successor of C is E. Project duration is \( 18 \) days. We need to find the total float of activity C.
Step 2 – Total float formula (CPM):
$$\text{Total Float} = LS - ES = LF - EF$$
where \( ES \) = Early Start, \( LS \) = Late Start, \( EF \) = Early Finish, \( LF \) = Late Finish.
Step 3 – Solve (forward and backward pass):
Forward pass for C:
\( ES_C = EF_A = 3 \), \( EF_C = 3 + 6 = 9 \)
Backward pass (from project end = 18):
\( LS_G = 18 - 3 = 15 \), so \( LF_E = 15 \) and \( LS_E = 15 - 2 = 13 \)
\( LF_C = LS_E = 13 \), \( LS_C = 13 - 6 = 7 \)
$$\text{Float}_C = LS_C - ES_C = 7 - 3 = 4 \text{ days}$$
Step 4 – Answer: The correct answer is (D) 4 days. Activity C can be delayed up to 4 days without affecting the project completion date. C is not on the critical path (\( A \to D \to F \to G \)).
Option (C) is the 3 days you get by starting activity C off the wrong predecessor - B's finish at day 4 instead of A's at day 3 - which shortens the apparent slack window by exactly one day.
Problem 5 — B. Construction operations and methods (e.g., safety, equipment, productivity analysis, temporary erosion control)
A compacted fill requires \( 1{,}200 \,\mathrm{yd}^{3} \). Shrinkage from bank to compacted is \( 8\% \), and swell from bank to loose is \( 25\% \). If trucks haul \( 16 \,\mathrm{yd}^{3} \) loose per load, how many truckloads are required (nearest whole load)?
Answer: B) \( 102 \) loads
Step 1 – Bank volume: \(V_{bank} = 1{,}200/(1 - 0.08) = 1{,}304.35\,\mathrm{yd}^{3}\)
Step 2 – Loose volume: \(V_{loose} = 1{,}304.35(1.25) = 1{,}630.43\,\mathrm{yd}^{3}\)
Step 3 – Truckloads: \(1{,}630.43/16 = 101.90\), so 102 loads are required.
Option (D) is what you get by charging the 25% swell twice: expanding the bank volume into loose measure and then also shaving 25% off the truck's rated capacity, which inflates the haul by \(1/0.75\).
Correct answer: (B)
Using the FE Reference Handbook for Construction Engineering
The Construction chapter is short, and that works against candidates who assume nothing is there and start deriving from scratch. Before exam day, locate the earned value definitions and the formwork pressure equations so you recognize the exact variable names used. Scheduling has no formula to look up, so the CPM procedure has to live in your head rather than in the handbook.
Four Mistakes That Cost Points
- Confusing total float with free float Total float is how long an activity can slip without delaying the project; free float is how long it can slip without delaying any successor. Questions ask for free float precisely because candidates compute total float on autopilot. Read which one is wanted before you start the backward pass.
- Applying swell and shrinkage to the wrong volume Swell converts bank volume to loose volume for hauling; shrinkage converts bank volume to compacted volume for fill. Multiplying a compacted quantity by a swell factor yields a number that looks reasonable and is wrong. Label every volume bank, loose, or compacted before applying any factor.
- Reversing the earned value sign convention Cost variance is earned value minus actual cost, and schedule variance is earned value minus planned value. Negative means over budget or behind schedule, and indices below 1.0 say the same thing. Subtracting in the other order flips every conclusion, and a distractor is always waiting for exactly that.
- Crashing without rechecking the critical path Compressing the critical path only helps until a parallel path becomes critical. After each crashing step, recompute the duration of every path. Multi-step questions are built so the cheapest activity stops being worth crashing partway through, and the total cost answer depends on catching that switch.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many construction questions are on the FE Civil exam?
NCEES specifies 8 to 12 questions for Construction Engineering out of 110. It sits in the middle of the pack by weight, and the question types are limited enough that a few focused hours on CPM networks and earned value usually turns the entire area into reliable points on exam day.
Do I need field experience to answer construction questions?
No. These questions are quantitative and procedural rather than experience-based. A CPM network, an earned value calculation, or an earthwork conversion can be worked entirely from the numbers given in the problem. The few conceptual items, such as contract delivery methods or trench protection, are recognition questions rather than judgment calls about a real jobsite.
How is CPM tested if the handbook has no scheduling formulas?
It is tested as a procedure you bring with you, applied to the network diagram printed in the problem. Forward pass for early start and early finish, backward pass for late start and late finish, then float as the difference between them. Work enough networks that you stop pausing to recall which pass runs which direction.
What earthwork shows up here versus in surveying?
Construction items focus on volume conversion and haul: bank, loose, and compacted volumes, shrinkage and swell factors, truck capacity, and equipment productivity per hour. Computing cross-section volumes by the average end area method is more often grouped with surveying. Expect to be handed areas or a stripped volume rather than deriving them from field notes.
Keep Going
Done with construction engineering? Work through the other FE Civil knowledge areas with more free practice problems, review the full FE Civil exam topic breakdown, or plan your preparation with our FE exam study guide and study timeline. Or test yourself against the clock with the free FE Civil practice exam: 20 timed questions in the CBT format.