COSC 275 EXAM TEST PAPER QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Fill - ✔✔The soil or other material used to raise the grade of a site area.
✔✔Foundation - ✔✔The entire masonry substructure below the first floor or frame of a
building, including the footing upon which the building rests.
✔✔Grade beam - ✔✔A horizontal end-supported (as opposed to ground-supported)
load-bearing foundation member that supports an exterior wall of a superstructure.
✔✔Width - ✔✔The measurement or extent of something from side to side.
✔✔Footing - ✔✔That portion of the foundation of a structure that spreads and transmits
the load directly to the soil.
✔✔Reinforced concrete - ✔✔Concrete containing adequate reinforcement, prestressed
or not prestressed, and designed on the assumption that the two materials (steel and
concrete) act together in resisting forces.
✔✔Reinforcing bar - ✔✔A steel bar, usually with manufactured deformations, used in
concrete and masonry construction to provide additional strength.
✔✔Footing beam - ✔✔A reinforced concrete beam connecting pile caps or spread
footings to distribute horizontal loads caused by eccentric loading.
✔✔Bolster - ✔✔In concrete, an individual or continuous support used to hold reinforcing
bars in position. Usually used in slab work.
✔✔Pan construction - ✔✔A type of concrete floor or roof in which pan forms are used to
create intersecting ribs and resulting in a waffle-like undersurface.
✔✔Formwork - ✔✔The total system of support for freshly placed concrete, including the
mold or sheathing that contacts the concrete, as well as all supporting members,
hardware, and necessary bracing.
✔✔Potential Vertical Rise - ✔✔expressed in inches (mm) is the latent or potential ability
of a soil material to swell, at a given density, moisture, and loading condition, when
exposed to capillary or surface water, and thereby increase the elevation of its upper
surface, along with anything resting on it.
✔✔Liquid Limit (LL) - ✔✔Is the moisture content expressed as a percentage of the
weight of oven dried soil, at which soil changes from a plastic to a liquid state.
, ✔✔Plasticity Index - ✔✔The plasticity index is a range of moisture in which a soil
remains in a plastic state, while passing from a semisolid state to a liquid state.
✔✔Overburden - ✔✔Overburden is the soil above the layer or layers being investigated.
✔✔Layer - ✔✔A horizontal soil structure of uniform or nearly uniform material. When the
material changes due to moisture, density, or composition, a new layer is considered to
have been created.
✔✔Loading - ✔✔The load (vertical pressure) per unit area in a lb/ft2 (kPa) from both the
structure and overburden of each layer of soil involved.
✔✔Compaction tests - ✔✔Tests employed to determine the density of a soil.
✔✔Percolation - ✔✔The movement of a fluid through a soil.
✔✔Select material - ✔✔Excavated pervious soil suitable for use as a foundation for a
granular base course of a road, or for bedding around pipes.
✔✔Expansive soil - ✔✔Soil that expands when water is added and shrinks when it dries
out. This change in soil volume can cause shifting and cracking in structures.
✔✔Column - ✔✔A long, relatively slender, supporting pillar
✔✔Beam - ✔✔A horizontal structural member, such as a girder, rafter, or purlin, that
transversely supports a
load and transfers the load to vertical members, such as columns and walls. The
graduated horizontal bar of a weighing scale.
✔✔Girder - ✔✔A large, principal beam of steel, reinforced concrete, or a combination of
the two used to support other structural members at isolated points along its length.
✔✔Joist - ✔✔Parallel beams of lumber, concrete, or steel used to support floor and
ceiling systems.
✔✔Load-bearing wall - ✔✔A wall specifically designed and built to support an imposed
load in addition to its
own weight.
✔✔Anchor bolts - ✔✔A threaded bolt, usually embedded in a foundation, for securing a
sill, framework, or
machinery.
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Fill - ✔✔The soil or other material used to raise the grade of a site area.
✔✔Foundation - ✔✔The entire masonry substructure below the first floor or frame of a
building, including the footing upon which the building rests.
✔✔Grade beam - ✔✔A horizontal end-supported (as opposed to ground-supported)
load-bearing foundation member that supports an exterior wall of a superstructure.
✔✔Width - ✔✔The measurement or extent of something from side to side.
✔✔Footing - ✔✔That portion of the foundation of a structure that spreads and transmits
the load directly to the soil.
✔✔Reinforced concrete - ✔✔Concrete containing adequate reinforcement, prestressed
or not prestressed, and designed on the assumption that the two materials (steel and
concrete) act together in resisting forces.
✔✔Reinforcing bar - ✔✔A steel bar, usually with manufactured deformations, used in
concrete and masonry construction to provide additional strength.
✔✔Footing beam - ✔✔A reinforced concrete beam connecting pile caps or spread
footings to distribute horizontal loads caused by eccentric loading.
✔✔Bolster - ✔✔In concrete, an individual or continuous support used to hold reinforcing
bars in position. Usually used in slab work.
✔✔Pan construction - ✔✔A type of concrete floor or roof in which pan forms are used to
create intersecting ribs and resulting in a waffle-like undersurface.
✔✔Formwork - ✔✔The total system of support for freshly placed concrete, including the
mold or sheathing that contacts the concrete, as well as all supporting members,
hardware, and necessary bracing.
✔✔Potential Vertical Rise - ✔✔expressed in inches (mm) is the latent or potential ability
of a soil material to swell, at a given density, moisture, and loading condition, when
exposed to capillary or surface water, and thereby increase the elevation of its upper
surface, along with anything resting on it.
✔✔Liquid Limit (LL) - ✔✔Is the moisture content expressed as a percentage of the
weight of oven dried soil, at which soil changes from a plastic to a liquid state.
, ✔✔Plasticity Index - ✔✔The plasticity index is a range of moisture in which a soil
remains in a plastic state, while passing from a semisolid state to a liquid state.
✔✔Overburden - ✔✔Overburden is the soil above the layer or layers being investigated.
✔✔Layer - ✔✔A horizontal soil structure of uniform or nearly uniform material. When the
material changes due to moisture, density, or composition, a new layer is considered to
have been created.
✔✔Loading - ✔✔The load (vertical pressure) per unit area in a lb/ft2 (kPa) from both the
structure and overburden of each layer of soil involved.
✔✔Compaction tests - ✔✔Tests employed to determine the density of a soil.
✔✔Percolation - ✔✔The movement of a fluid through a soil.
✔✔Select material - ✔✔Excavated pervious soil suitable for use as a foundation for a
granular base course of a road, or for bedding around pipes.
✔✔Expansive soil - ✔✔Soil that expands when water is added and shrinks when it dries
out. This change in soil volume can cause shifting and cracking in structures.
✔✔Column - ✔✔A long, relatively slender, supporting pillar
✔✔Beam - ✔✔A horizontal structural member, such as a girder, rafter, or purlin, that
transversely supports a
load and transfers the load to vertical members, such as columns and walls. The
graduated horizontal bar of a weighing scale.
✔✔Girder - ✔✔A large, principal beam of steel, reinforced concrete, or a combination of
the two used to support other structural members at isolated points along its length.
✔✔Joist - ✔✔Parallel beams of lumber, concrete, or steel used to support floor and
ceiling systems.
✔✔Load-bearing wall - ✔✔A wall specifically designed and built to support an imposed
load in addition to its
own weight.
✔✔Anchor bolts - ✔✔A threaded bolt, usually embedded in a foundation, for securing a
sill, framework, or
machinery.
