Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers [Paperback]

Paul A. Cuomo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1997

1997 Professional Publications. Provides clear, comprehensive information on the principles of surveying, especially relevant for the California Special Civil Engineer Examination, covering every surveying topic that is tested. Paper. DLC: Civil Engineering-California - Examinations - Study guides.

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: Professional Publications (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888577088
• ISBN-13: 978-1888577082
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,933,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good material, but needs much more editing, October 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers (Paperback)

If you actually work through this material enough to figure things out (as I did to help an engineer preparing for the PE exam), you'll learn lots of good stuff. The content usually seems right on target, and the practice questions are often very relevant.

However, some sections of the book do not create the appearance that the author (or editor or proofreader) really understood the material. There are also many forward references, i.e. use of terms defined later in the text.

For example, chapter 12 is particularly sloppy - besides containing several serious errors even in simpler material, the more complex examples do not contain enough information to solve without (unstated) outside references. The chapter introduces lots of stuff it fails to cover adequately, and then only the simpler stuff is actually representative of the California PE. In addition, an out-of context section on map reading is randomly inserted into different material. Some other content is duplicated, suggesting a chapter built by committee and without adequate final editing.

All criticism aside, this is still a good, concise preparatory tool for the surveying exam.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Deficient, May 11, 2007

By 

Disappointed Engineer (Arcata, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers: Review for the Engineering Surveying Section of the California Special Civil Engineer Examination, 2nd ed. (Paperback)

This book and the accompanying "120 Solved Surveying Problems" and "Civil Surveying Sample Exams," did not cover all topics on the CA survey exam, and did not even cross reference each other well. It was poorly written, very poorly organized, and this book and practice problems and sample exams were all were full of mathematical errors.

About the only good thing about the book was its chapters on angle measurements and traverses. Though it didn't explain how to set up the computations, you could figure it out from the figures. The one main deficiency in the traverse chapter what that it corrected a traverse in an example problem without saying how, then explained in detail in a following sections how to do it. A little backwards.

This book needs serious clarification of the photogrammetry and public lands system chapters, and should include information on vertical datums, earth curvature, refraction and other tape corrections, and survey equipment. The California Coordinate chapter was very unclear, you can download better information off the CalTrans website, along with standard survey staking guidelines. I was never sure of the purpose of the astronomical observations chapter.

I felt like I was able to pass the exam, but it was more from my work experience than these books. The sample exams did reflect the test, but the number of errors in the answers were astounding. I recommend getting a basic survey book, and using Lindburg's Civil Engineer's Reference Manual for horizontal and vertical geometries, as well as the other survey and earthwork information it contains.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, February 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers (Paperback)

Totally inadequate for the California Surveying examination. The 3 chapters in Civil Engineering Reference Manual by Lindeburg covers more surveying than this entire book. A real surveying book or review course is required. This book is a rip-off.