Original question written by FE Exam AI Prep from the public FE Civil exam specification. Before release, a solver model re-derived the answer twice from the question alone, without its answer key, and a critic model checked the result, and the arithmetic was re-run as an executable calculation. No licensed engineer reviews these questions. It is not an NCEES question and does not come from any NCEES practice exam. FE Exam AI Prep is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCEES.
Earthwork Volume and Unit Conversion: FE Civil practice problem 1
For the West Basin airport access road, a project engineer preparing an operations handoff review converts 1840 bank cubic yards of soil using a compacted yield factor of 0.87. What compacted volume is expected?
- A1053.6 CCY
- B1193.4 CCY
- C1486.7 CCY
- D1600.8 CCY
Show the answer and worked solution
Answer: D — 1600.8 CCY
Worked solution
- Step 1. Apply compacted yield factor
compacted volume = bank volume x yield factor
V = 1840(0.87) = 1600.8 CCY
Why the other choices are wrong
- Choice A
- Carrying out 1840 * 0.87 gives a compacted volume modestly below this total, and no single isolated slip in that multiplication accounts for the extra amount, so the smaller figure is the one the yield factor supports.
- Choice B
- Multiplying the bank volume by the stated 0.87 yield factor gives a larger compacted volume than this total, and no single obvious substitution error explains why this figure runs low, so the bigger value is the supported result.
- Choice C
- Multiplying 1840 bank cubic yards by the 0.87 yield factor directly gives a smaller compacted volume than this total, and no single dropped or doubled step in that multiplication explains a figure this much larger, so the smaller result is the one the yield factor supports.