Free CTCI Practice Questions

Question 1

About 90 minutes after a bridge-deck placement, while the concrete remains plastic, narrow cracks appear directly above and parallel to the upper reinforcing bars. The deck has shown noticeable bleeding and settlement. Wind is light, the surface remains moist, and survey checks show no form movement. Which mechanism best fits these observations?

Accepted Answer

Plastic settlement restrained locally by the upper reinforcing bars.

Answer

Plastic shrinkage from rapid evaporation at the unprotected surface.

Answer

Thermal contraction after the deck passes its hydration-temperature peak.

Answer

Drying shrinkage after moisture loss from the hardened cement paste.

Question 2

An approved concrete mixture contains 1,530 lb of sand in the saturated-surface-dry condition. The sand absorption is 2.0%, and today's total moisture content is 6.0%; both percentages are based on oven-dry mass. Other ingredients are unchanged. Which adjustment preserves both the specified sand quantity and effective mixing water?

Accepted Answer

Batch 1,590 lb of sand; reduce separately added water by 60 lb.

Answer

Batch 1,590 lb of sand; reduce separately added water by 90 lb.

Answer

Batch 1,530 lb of sand; reduce separately added water by 60 lb.

Answer

Batch 1,590 lb of sand; leave the separately added water unchanged.

Question 3

A bridge-deck mixture contains structural lightweight coarse aggregate. Its specified fresh-concrete air content is 5.0% to 7.0%. Tests on the same representative sample give 8.0% with a pressure meter and 5.6% by ASTM C173's volumetric method. Both meters are calibrated, and the volumetric test meets all procedural validity checks. How should the air-content requirement be evaluated?

Accepted Answer

Use the volumetric result of 5.6%; it meets the specified air-content requirement.

Answer

Reject the load because the higher measured air content exceeds the specified limit.

Answer

Average the two results because both meters passed their required calibration checks.

Answer

Require another pressure test before using the volumetric result for acceptance of this load.

Question 4

Joint detail J1 specifies smooth dowels across a transverse contraction joint, with bond breaker on the designated half. Detail J2 specifies deformed tie bars across a longitudinal joint. Both bar types have factory-applied epoxy corrosion protection. An installer proposes applying bond breaker to the full length of both types. Which installation preserves the intended joint behavior?

Accepted Answer

Keep the tie bars bonded and apply dowel bond breaker as J1 details.

Answer

Debond both bar types throughout to allow the two joints to move freely.

Answer

Keep both bar types bonded because their epoxy coatings accommodate movement.

Answer

Debond the tie bars only because the dowels need bond to transfer load.

Question 5

Before a bridge-footing placement, an inspector finds a uniform, tightly adherent rust film on uncoated reinforcing bars. There is no loose scale, oil, mud, or other bond-impairing contamination. Representative hand-wire-brushed specimens meet the applicable ASTM requirements for mass, dimensions, and deformation height. All other preplacement checks have passed. What should the inspector do?

Accepted Answer

Accept the bar condition and proceed with the scheduled concrete placement.

Answer

Require abrasive blasting until all visible rust and mill scale disappear.

Answer

Suspend placement until the structural engineer individually approves every rusted bar.

Answer

Require a rust-inhibiting coating on the bars before allowing concrete placement.

Question 6

A roller-compacted concrete (RCC) pavement mat has a shiny, pasty surface and pumps under both the roller and foot traffic. The supporting base is firm, the lift thickness is correct, and additional vibratory passes are not achieving the target density. Which condition should be investigated first?

Accepted Answer

A mixture too wet to remain stable under the compaction equipment.

Answer

A mixture too dry to lubricate aggregate movement during compaction.

Answer

A mixture that has begun setting before the rolling operation starts.

Answer

A mixture receiving too few passes to close the remaining internal voids.

Question 7

The approved shore-removal plan for a cast-in-place member requires a field-cured cylinder strength of at least 3,500 psi and a specified removal sequence. At seven days, properly field-cured specimens representing that member give 3,900 psi; standard-cured companions give 4,400 psi. The concrete's specified strength is 5,000 psi at 28 days. All other release conditions have been verified. What is the appropriate disposition?

Accepted Answer

Permit the approved removal sequence and retain the planned 28-day acceptance testing.

Answer

Retain all shores until standard-cured cylinders reach the specified 5,000 psi strength.

Answer

Reject the placement because the seven-day standard-cured strength is below 5,000 psi.

Answer

Record 4,400 psi as the verified in-place strength and release shores on that basis.

Question 8

On an in-place soil-cement base, cement-delivery records reconcile with the specified application rate and field density meets the compaction requirement. The finished surface is uniformly gray. Full-depth inspection holes, however, expose streaks of untreated soil and unmixed clods near the bottom. Which requirement is most directly contradicted by this evidence?

Accepted Answer

Uniform incorporation of soil, cement and water through the treatment depth.

Answer

Application of the specified total cement quantity across the treatment area.

Answer

Use of the correct laboratory reference density for the field compaction test.

Answer

Retention of curing moisture after completion of the final compaction pass.

Question 9

A bearing layout places the pier centerline and the anchor-group centerline on the same survey baseline. The permitted deviations are ±1/2 in. for the pier and ±1/4 in. for the anchor group. Surveyed deviations are +0.30 in. and +0.40 in., respectively. The foreman argues that the two tolerances may be added. What should the inspection record show?

Accepted Answer

The pier complies, but the anchor group exceeds its own location tolerance.

Answer

Both positions comply because their combined tolerance is ±3/4 in.

Answer

The anchor group complies because it is only 0.10 in. from the pier.

Answer

Both positions fail because the ±1/4-in. tolerance governs every dimension.

Question 10

A slipform paver repeatedly pauses while awaiting concrete, but its internal vibrators continue running at the normal paving setting. Grout-rich patches appear at the stopping locations; fresh-concrete tests taken before paving remain within specification. Which change most directly addresses the observed problem?

Accepted Answer

Stop vibration whenever forward movement stops, and coordinate its restart with paving.

Answer

Increase the air-entraining admixture dosage for all concrete delivered to the paver.

Answer

Reduce forward travel speed while retaining the present vibrator operating sequence.

Answer

Raise the vibrator heads so they work primarily in the top portion of the slab.

Free CTCI Practice Questions

Domain 4: ACI 230.1R-Report on Soil Cement

Question 1

Domain 5: ACI 301-Specifications for Structural Concrete

Question 2

Domain 6: ACI 304R-Guide for Measuring, Mixing, Transporting, and Placing Concrete

Question 3

Domain 11: ACI 309R-Guide for Consolidation of Concrete

Question 4

Domain 14: ACI 327R-Guide to Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements

Question 5

Domain 16: ACI 345R-Guide for Concrete Highway Bridge Deck Construction

Question 6

Domain 19: ACI MNL-2-Manual of Concrete Inspection

Question 7

Domain 21: CRSI Manual of Standard Practice

Question 8

Domain 22: Plans-Reading Exam

Question 9

Question 10

The rest of the CTCI blueprint

That's 10 of 1,030