ENG1001 Civil Private Study Questions Set 2

Please note, these questions are to be done in your own time. It is

STRONGLY recommended you attempt all questions, to help you with your
understanding of the taught material and also to help you pass the exam.
Solutions will be made available weekly through Moodle and further
assistance can be gained from either the weekly help desk, or in the
practical classes.

Note – in all of these questions, only apply load factors to the loads when
you are specifically asked to do so.

1. A walker is crossing a river using a timber board. She weighs 80 kg. What is
the reaction in kN (kilonewtons) at each end of the board when the walker is at
midspan (half way across)? Use the equations of equilibrium to calculate your
answer, taking moments about the left end. Check your solution by taking moments
about the right end. Check your answer a second time by taking moments about
the centre. Finally, check that your answer agrees with what you would expect
from common sense.

10 metres

2. As the walker in question 1 crosses the bridge, the reactions change. Using the
equations of equilibrium, calculate the reaction at the left end when the walker is
at the following distances from the left end,
0m, 2m 4m, 5m, 6m, 8m, 10m
Check your answer each time by taking moments about a second point. Check that
your answers agree with what you would expect from common sense.
3. A beam supports a point load and a UDL as shown. Ignore the self-weight of the
beam. Calculate the reactions at A and B.

3m 5m 4m

20 kN 10 kN/m

A B

4. A beam supports two cross beams. Beam A transmits a downward load of 80 kN

to beam CD, while beam B transmits a downward load of 60 kN. Ignore the self-
weight of the beam CD. calculate the reactions at C and D.
2.5 m 3.5 m 2.0 m

A B
C D

8m

5. A beam, AC, supports a floor over half its length as shown. The beam weighs
100 kg/m. Calculate the reactions at A and C.
20 kN/m

A C
B
5m 5m

6. Calculate the reactions at A and C for the beam drawn below.

0.8 kN
A C

1.5 m 1.5 m
7. Calculate the reactions at A and C for the beam drawn below.

C
(horizontal
roller)
0.8 kN 4m

1.5 m 1.5 m

8. A ladder leans against a wall as shown in the diagram below. A person weighing
80 kg is halfway up the ladder. Neglecting the weight of the ladder, what are the
reactions at A and C? (the coefficient of friction between the ladder and the wall
can be taken as zero)
C

4m
ladder

1.5 m 1.5 m

9. Refer to the previous problem. If the coefficient of friction between the ladder
and the floor is 0.6, is the person safe? (we are checking against collapse, so a load
factor of say 1.5 would normally be applied to the live load).

10. Challenging Question: Repeat questions 8 and 9 if the ladder has a mass of
5 kg/m. Use a dead load factor of 1.25 when checking for safety.
11.
20 kN/m

A
B

10m 5m

A beam of weight 1 kN/m supports a load as shown. The vertical reaction at B is?

12. A 3m wide bridge is supported by a truss on each side of the deck as shown.
Each member of the truss has a mass of 50 kg/m. The concrete bridge deck is
0.3m thick. What is the vertical reaction at A on one truss?

3m
0.3m

2.5m

A
10m

13. For the beam below, write an equation for the reactions at A and B as a function
of P, L and x.
P

A B

14. A concrete T beam, 10 m long has the following cross-section:

200

400

400 600 400

Cross-section
(dimensions in mm)
Expressed as a uniformly distributed load, what is its weight? If you are checking
the supports at each end of the beam for safety against collapse (ultimate limit
state), a load factor of 1.25 would be applied. In this case, what would the load on
the supports be due to the weight of the beam only? Note: the ULS dead load
factor has since been changed in the standards to 1.2

15. A 3-pin arch is constructed from a rolled steel beam of mass 100 kg/m. The
length measured along the arch is 25 m.
Calculate the reactions at A and C.
Calculate the horizontal force component at the pin at B due to the weight of the
arch.
What is the vertical force component at the pin at B?
(note – for this problem assume that the centroid of each half arch is 5 m
horizontally from the end)
B

8m
A C

20m

16. A beam is supported on 4 supports as shown below. There are internal pins in
the centre span. Calculate the reactions.
internal pin
20 kN 30 kN 5 kN/m

2m 2m 1.3 m 1.3 m 1.5 m 0.8 m 3.5 m

17. The bridge shown below carries 8 lanes of traffic, and the main span is 336
metres. The main span is supported by cables which divide the span into 5 equal
lengths, and it can be considered to be a simply supported beam between points
of support. The bridge mass is 20 tonnes per metre of span. Traffic load can be
taken as 7 kN per metre along each lane. The tower height is 46 metres above
the deck. Considering the main span only, and using factors of 1.2 for dead load
and 2.0 for live load,
 calculate the total (factored) load on the main span, in kN and tonnes
 calculate the force in each cable
 explain why there is a horizontal force in the deck, and describe the load path
for that force
18. Determine the reactions at the supports:

a. 20 kN

20 kN

3m

6m 3m

b. 20 kN

20 kN

5m

10m
c.
10 kN
10 kN
2m
30 kN
3m
2m
4m 4m 2m

3m
10 kN

19. Calculate the reactions for the following, by first drawing a free body diagram
for each case and then using the equations of equilibrium.

10 kN/m
a)

5m

10 kN/m 10 kN
b)
5m 5m

10 kN/m
10 kN
c)
5m 5m
20 kN-m
20. Challenging Question (above and beyond): The Earth Pressure distribution
on a Piling Wall is as shown above, with loads of 10 and 30kN/m. Calculate,
a) the equivalent resultant single force and specify its height above the base of the
wall.

Useful information:

30kN/m 10kN/m

21. Challenging Question (above and beyond): Replace the Acting force and
moment system by an equivalent resultant force and specify its location along the
beam. w = 10 kN/m

30kN
w = 2 kN/m
20kNm

A B
4m 6m 2m 2m
22. Replace the Acting force and moment system by an equivalent resultant force and
specify its coordinate location (x,0) relative to the x axis.

Y 20kN
(-1m,2m)
10kN 30o

(3m,1m)

X
15kNm (0m,-1m)