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.
Factored Loads and Tributary Width: FE Civil practice problem 2
For work package 309 on the coastal pump replacement, the construction support engineer performs a contractor change evaluation and converts a floor area load of 42 psf over tributary width 11 ft to a beam line load. What line load is applied?
- A0.462 kip/ft
- B0.642 kip/ft
- C0.242 kip/ft
- D0.670 kip/ft
Show the answer and worked solution
Answer: A — 0.462 kip/ft
Worked solution
- Step 1. Multiply area load by tributary width
w = q b / 1000
- Step 2. Substitute values
w = 42(11)/1000 = 0.462 kip/ft
Why the other choices are wrong
- Choice B
- This line load does not follow from a single clean conversion error; multiplying the 42 psf area load by the 11 ft tributary width and dividing by 1000 gives w = 42*11/1000 = 0.462 kip/ft, and no obvious width or unit slip reproduces this figure.
- Choice C
- No identifiable one-step mistake, such as dropping the unit conversion or substituting a different tributary width, accounts for this number; the beam line load is found from w = q*b/1000 = 0.462 kip/ft using the stated 42 psf load and 11 ft width.
- Choice D
- This value cannot be reproduced by one obvious arithmetic slip in converting the area load to a line load; the correct calculation is w = q*b/1000, which gives 0.462 kip/ft for 42 psf spread over 11 ft of tributary width.