Here is the list of 18 questions commonly asked questions in civil engineering interviews to civil site
engineers and project engineers:
Column is a verticle member in building whose primary function is to support structural load and
transfer it through beams. Upper columns transfers the load to the lower columns and finally to the
ground through footings.
4. What is the cement sand & aggregate ratios for various grades of concrete mix?
5 – 1:4:8
M10 – 1:3:6
M15 – 1:2:4
M20 – 1:1.5:3
M25 – 1:1:2
M30 – 1:1:1
5. What do you mean by honeycomb in concrete?
Honeycomb, also known as airpocket, is nothing but the air voids in concrete. It is usually formed
during concrete casting.
Already tired of reading these questions? Rather, you can listen to these civil engineering interview
questions on our YouTube video, along with their answers here:
Plain concrete is not affected or damaged by water but Reinforced Concrete (RCC) can be damaged
due to water. This is because the water may seep into the concrete and corrode the steel
reinforcement inside.
7. What is the initial and final setting time of ideal cement mix?
Initial setting time for ideal cement mix is around 30 minutes for almost all kind of cements. For
masonry cement it can be 90minutes. Final setting time of ideal cement mix should be 10 hours at
max. For masonry cement it shouldn’t exceed 24hours.
Weight of steel in kg can be calculate by formula (D2*L)/162; where D is diameter of steel bar in
millimeter and L is total length of steel bar in meter.
TMT stands for “Thermo Mechanically Treated”. Generally we use TMT bars and sheet for
construction purposes for the reason that they have high strength and high corrosion resistance
compared to normal steels.
11. What is difference between working stress method and limit state method?
Working stress method is an elastic design method in which structure is designed to bear the load
upto elastic limit. Whereas, limit state method is a plastic design method in which structure is
designed to bear the load beyond plastic limit.
12. What field tests are required for quality check of cement?
Quality of cement can be checked with color, physical properties, etc. Cement should have grey
color with light greenish shade. It should feel smooth when rubbed between fingers. If hand is
inserted in a heap of cement or its bags, it should feel cool. When pinch of cement is thrown in
Water then cement should float for some time before it sink. Also, it should be lump free.
There are basically two types of foundation: Shallow & Deep foundation. Again shallow foundation
can be classified as spread footing, combined footing, strap or cantilever footing and finally mat or
raft footing. Deep foundations can be classified as pile footing, pier footing, caissons footing and well
foundation.
There are various types of cement which are: Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), White Portland
Cement (WPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Low Heat Portland Cement, Coloured Portland
Cement, Hydrophobic cement, Rapid Hardening Cement, Portland Slag Cement, Sulphate resisting
Portland Cement, etc.
It is a process in which mixture of cement & sand in proportion of 1:3 is shooted on concrete surface
with the help of cement gun under pressure of 2 to 3 kg/cm2. It is a highly effective process for
repairing concrete walls or damaged surfaces.
We can use water absorption test, hardness test, shape & size, crushing strength test, soundness
test, etc. to check the brick quality. In water absorption test, we dip the brick for 16 hours in water. If
weight of brick after dipping in water doesn’t exceed by 20%, it can be considered as first class brick,
if below 22.5% it can be considered as second class brick, if below 25% it can be considered as third
class brick. In crushing test, it crushing strength should be minimum of 10 N/mm2 for first class brick,
7.5 N/mm2for second class bricks. In hardness test, we scratch the brick with nails. It should be
scratch free. In soundness test we check the metallic sound by striking two bricks with each other.
The civil engineering interview questions asked above are useful knowledge required in day-to-day
work on field as a site engineer. Hence, it is vital to have sound knowledge of these basic question