Civil Engineering - UPSC Civil Service Exam Questions MCQs Part 1

1. Which type of light energy is effectively absorbed by CO2 in the lower boundary of the troposphere ?

A.
X - rays

B.
UV - rays

C.
Visible light

D.
Infra-red rays

 Answer Option D

2. The following steps are involved in laying a sewer in a trench :1. Transferring the center line of the sewer to the bottom trench.2. Setting sight rails over the trench.3. Driving pegs to the level of the invert line of the sewer.4. Placing the sewer of these steps is The correct sequence of these steps is

A.
1, 2, 3, 4

B.
2, 3, 4, 1

C.
4, 2, 3, 1

D.
2, 3, 1, 4

 Answer Option D

3. A horizontal rod AB carries three loads of 3.0 kg, 7.0 kg and 10.0 kg at distances of 2.0 cm, 9.0 cm and 15 cm respectively from A where it is hinged. Neglecting the weight of the rod, which is the point at which the rod will be balance ?

A.
10.95 cm form A

B.
11.25 cm from A

C.
12.55 cm from A

D.
13.25 cm form A

 Answer Option A

4. Distemper is used to coat

A.
external concrete surfaces

B.
interior surfaces not exposed to weather

C.
woodwork

D.
compound walls

 Answer Option B

5. Two simply supported beams B1 and B2 have spans l and 2l respectively. Beam B1 has a cross-section of 1 x 1 units and beam B2 has a cross-section of 2 x 2 units. These beams are subjected to concentrated loads W each at the centre of their spans. The ratio of the maximum flexural stress in these beams is

A.
4

B.
2

C.

D.

 Answer Option A

6. A soil has a liquid limit of 45% and lies above the A-line when plotted on a plasticity chart. The group, symbol of the soil as per Soil Classification is

A. CH

B. CI

C. CL

D. MI

 Answer Option B

7. A short column of external diameter D and internal diameter d, is subjected to a load W, with an eccentricity 'e', causing zero stress at an extreme fibre. Then the value of 'e' must be

A.

B.

C.

D.

 Answer Option C

8. A high efficiency pump is required for low discharge, high head and low maintenance cost. Delivery of water need not be continuous. The pump need not run at high speed. Which one of the following is the correct choice ?

A. Centrifugal pump

B. Reciprocating pump

C. Air lift pump

D. Hydraulic ram

 Answer Option B

9. For total reaction time of 2.5 seconds, coefficient of friction 0.35, design speed 80 km/h, what is the stopping sight distance on a highway ?

A. 127 m

B. 132 m

C. 76 m

D. 56 m

 Answer Option A

10. What is the use of a station pointer ?

A. For making soundings in water bodies

B. For plotting of soundings in harbour area

C. For marking sunken shipping hazards

D. For making tidal observations

 Answer Option B

11. The plastic modulus of a section is 5 x 10-4m3. Its shape factor is 1.2 and the plastic moment capacity is 120 kNm. What is the value of the yield stress of the material ?

A. 100 N/mm2

B. 200 N/mm2

C. 240 N/mm2

D. 288 N/mm2

 Answer Option C

12. According to ICAO recommendations, what is the rate of elevation correction for the runway above MSL ?

A. 1 % for every 100 m of elevation above MSL

B. 7 % for every 300 m of elevation above MSL

C. 2 % for every 500 m of elevation above MSL

D. 2 % for every 300 m of elevation above MSL

 Answer Option B

13. The absolute maximum Bending Moment in a simply supported beam of span 20 m due to moving udl of 4 t/m spanning over 5 m is

A. 87.5 t-m at the support

B. 87.5 t-m near the midpoint

C. 3.5 t-m at the midpoint

D. 87.5 t-m at the midpoint

 Answer Option D

14. The following steps are involved in making a spigot and socket joint of cast iron pipes used in water supply systems :1. Tarred gasket or hemp yarn in wrapped around the spigot.2. The sipgot end is centered into the socket end of the preceding pipe.3. A joining ring end is placed around the barrel and against the face of the socket.4. The gasket or hemp yarn in caulked slightly.5. Molten pig lead is poured and then caulked.The correct sequence of these steps is

A. 2, 1, 4, 3, 5

B. 2, 1, 3, 4, 5

C. 1, 2, 4, 5, 3

D. 1, 2, 3, 5, 4

 Answer Option C

15. Consider the following statements :A : In masonry, bricks are joined together by cement mortar.B : Cement mortar adheres more effectively to brick surface than any other material.

A. both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A

B. both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A

C. A is true but R is false

D. A is false but R is true

 Answer Option D

16. In the force system shown in the figure, the force CA should be

A. 5 t

B. - 5 t

C. 4 t

D. - 4 t

 Answer Option A

17. A cylindrical shell made of mild steel plate of 100 cm diameter is to be subjected to an internal pressure of 10 kg/cm2. If the material yields at 2000 kg/cm2, assuming factor of safety as four and using maximum principal stress theory, thickness of the plate will be

A. 5 mm

B. 10 mm

C. 15 mm

D. 20 mm

 Answer Option B

18. A plot of land 60°m x 20 m is measure steel tape. If the standard error of length width measurements is taken as ± 1 cm, the standard error of the area of the plot be

A. ± 0.1414 m2

B. ± 0.566 m2

C. ± 0.632 m2

D. ± 0.8484 m2

 Answer Option C

19. The graphical condition for equilibrium of concurrent forces is that

A. both the force polygon and the funicular polygon must be closed figures

B. funicular polygon should be a closed figure

C. force polygon need not be a closed figure

D. force polygon should be a closed figure

 Answer Option A

20. In a tilted aerial photograph, if the swing is 230°, then the rotation angle is equal to

A. 140°

B. 130°

C. 50°

D. 25°

 Answer Option B

21. A cold drawn seamless steel tubing subject to internal pressure, has a diameter of 6 cm and wall thickness of 0.2 cm. The ultimate strength of steel is 3600 kg/cm2. The bursting pressure (in kg/cm2) is

A. 120

B. 240

C. 480

D. 960

 Answer Option B

22. Which of the following factors are associated with the behaviour of sand mass during earthquake to cause liquefaction ?1. Number of stress cycles2. The frequency, and amplitude of vibration of waves generated by an earthquake3. Characteristics of sand4. Relative densitySelect the correct answer using the codes given below :

A. 1, 2 and 3

B. 1, 2, 3 and 4

C. 2 and 4

D. 3 and 4

 Answer Option B

23. The ratio of total elongation of a bar of uniform cross-section produced under its own weight to the elongation produced by an external load equal to the weight of the bar is

A. 2

B. 1

C. 1/2

D. 1/4

 Answer Option C

24. The figure refers to a channel section of uniform thickness of 1 cm used as a beam with the cross-sectional dimensions shown in cm units. If the Moment of Inertia of channel Ixx be equal to 246 cm4 and C be the shear centre, then the value of e in cm is equal to

A. 1.5

B. 2.5

C. 2.25

D. 1.67

 Answer Option A

25. The shear force diagram of a beam is shown in the given figure. The absolute maximum bending moment in the beam is

A. (2P x a)

B. (5P x a)

C. (4P x a)

D. (7P x a)

 Answer Option B

26. A locomotive has four pairs of driving wheels carrying an axle load of 24 x 104 N. The maximum load that can be pulled if the coefficient of friction is 1/6, is

A. 32 x 104 N

B. 16 x 104 N

C. 8 x 104 N

D. 4 x 104 N

 Answer Option B

27. A bar of circular cross-section of diameter D is subjected to a torque T at B as shown in the figure given. What is the angle of twist at A?

A. Same as that at B

B. Zero

C. Twice as that at B

D. Half as that at B

 Answer Option A

28. Consider the following statements regarding Plane Table surveying : 1. It is less accurate than chain surveying. 2. It is not necessary to do accurate centering of plane table for small scale survey.3. Compass rule may be made use for adjusting the plane table transverse.4. From the instrument station, resectors are drawn to plot the position of object in the field. Of these statements :

A. 1, 2 and 4 are correct

B. 2, 3 and 4 are correct

C. 1, 2 and 3 are correct

D. 1, 3 and 4 are correct

 Answer Option A

29. A pin-jointed tower truss is loaded as shown in the given figure. The force induced in the member DF is

A. 1.5 kN (tension)

B. 4.5 kN (tension)

C. 1.5 kN (compression)

D. 4.5 kN (compression)

 Answer Option A

30. In a PERT network, the activity durations are given as to (optimistic), tp (pessimistic) and tm (most likely time). What is the variance of is activity ?

A.

B.

C.

D. None of the above

 Answer Option C

31. A particle of mass 3 kg moving in a straight line decelerates uniformly from a speed of 40 m/s to 20 m/s in a distance of 300 m. Before it comes to rest, it will travel a further distance pf

A. 10 m

B. 20 m

C. 50 m

D. 100 m

 Answer Option D

32. For designing end bearing piles of square cross-section in clays having average unconfmed compressive strength of 6 t/m2, the net ultimate bearing capacity may be taken as

A. 15 t/m2

B. 18 t/m2

C. 20 t/m2

D. 27 t/m2

 Answer Option B

33. The side AD of the square block ABCD as shown in the given figure is fixed at the base and it is under a state of simple shear causing shear stress τ and shear strain π, where The distorted shape is AB'C'D. The diagonal strain (linear) will be

A.

B.

C. φ2

D. φ

 Answer Option A

34. Consider the following statements :Collision diagram is used to1. study accident pattern2. eliminate accidents3. determine remedial measures4. make statistical analysis of accidentsOf these statements :

A. 1 and 2 are correct

B. 1 and 3 are correct

C. 3 and 4 are correct

D. 2 and 4 are correct

 Answer Option D

35. Consider the following statements :1. An ascending gradient of 1 in 100 meets an ascending gradient of 1 in 120 to form a Valley curve.2. A falling gradient of 1 in 25 meets a falling gradient of 1 in 50 to form a summit curve.3. The length of summit curve is determined on the basis of head light sight distance.Which one of the statements given above is/are correct ?

A. 1 and 2

B. 2 and 3

C. 1 and 3

D. 2 only

 Answer Option B

36. The rectangular block shown in the given figure is subjected to pure shear to intensity 'q'. If BE represents the i principal plane and the principal stresses are σ1, σ2 ; then the values of θ, σ1 and σ2 will be respectively.

A. θ°, 90°; + q and - q

B. 30°, 120°; + q and - q

C. 45°, 135°; + and

D. 45°, 135°; + q and - q

 Answer Option D

37. The maximum energy stored at elastic limit of a material is called

A. resilience

B. proof resilience

C. modulus of resilience

D. bulk resilience

 Answer Option B

38. If the pressure carried by a CBR specimen at 2.5 mm penetration is 3.5 N/mm2, the CBR of the soil is

A. 10%

B. 35%

C. 50%

D. 70%

 Answer Option C

39. A close-coiled helical spring with n coils, mean radius R and diameter d is subjected to an axial load W. What is the compression in the spring ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

 Answer Option B

40. Activated sludge is the

A. resultant sludge removable from the aeration unit

B. sludge settled in the humus tank

C. sludge in the secondary tank post-aeration rich in microbial mass

D. sludge.in the secondary tank post aeration, rich in nutrients.

 Answer Option C

41. Which are the critical activities of the bar chart shown above ?

A. Activities B and E

B. Activities A, D and F

C. Activities A, C and E

D. Activities A and F

 Answer Option A

42. What is the effective height of a free-standing masonry wall for the purpose of computing slenderness ratio ?

A. 0.5 L

B. 1.0 L

C. 2.0 L

D. 2.5 L

 Answer Option C

43. To generate 10, 000 hp under a head of 81 m while working at a speed of 500 rpirt, the turbine of choice would be

A. Pelton

B. Kaplan

C. Bulb

D. Francis

 Answer Option A

44. Consider the following statements :Sand in mortar is needed for1. decreasing the quantity of cement.2. reducing shrinkage.3. decreasing the surface area of the binding material.4. increasing the strength.Of these statements :

A. 2, 3 and 4 are correct

B. 1, 2 and 3 are correct

C. 1, 3 and 4 are correct

D. 1, 2 and 4 are correct

 Answer Option D

45. The given figure shows gradually varied flow in an open channel with a beak in bed slope. Types of water surface profiles occurring from left to right are

A. H2 , S3

B. H2 , S2

C. H2 , M2

D. H3 , M2

 Answer Option B

46. Consider the following strengths of concrete :1. Cube strength2. Cylinder strength3. Split-tensile strength4. Modulus of ruptureThe correct sequence in decreasing order of these strengths is

A. 3, 4, 2, 1

B. 3, 4, 1, 2

C. 4, 3, 2, 1

D. 4, 3, 1, 2

 Answer Option D

47. A reinforced concrete slab is 75 mm thick. The maximum size of reinforcement bar that can be used is

A. 12 mm diameter

B. 10 mm diameter

C. 8 mm diameter

D. 6 mm diameter

 Answer Option C

48. Consider the following methods of preservation of timber :1. Dipping2. Brushing or spraying3. Pressure impregnationThe correct sequence in decreasing order of the effectiveness of these methods of preservation is

A. 1, 2, 3

B. 2, 1, 3

C. 3, 1, 2

D. 3, 2, 1

 Answer Option C

49. Purlins are provided, in industrial buildings, over roof trusses to carry dead loads, live loads and wind loads. As per IS code, what are they assumed to be ?

A. Simply supported

B. Cantilever

C. Continuous

D. Fixed

 Answer Option C

50. Ratio of bearing capacity of double Under Reamed (U.R.) pile to that of single U.R. pile is nearly

A. 2

B. 1.5

C. 1.2

D. 1.7

 Answer Option B