Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam- Ninth Edition Description:

Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam, Ninth Edition review:
4 stars (Great for a starting point-get practice problems for Geotech) - I agree with other users on the great index and also explains clearly phase diagram and their formulas. As I and others can attest to, we have long needed a practice oriented book for the Geotech PM Depth. Improve your odds and get Geotechnical review book by soilstructure.com My copy is well worth the price.
4 stars (Worthwhile investment) - I bought this reference to use for studying for the PE, along with its accompanying study guide; however, I ended up studying only about 4 hours before the PE test. I made my first pass through each session using my normal references, leaving blank any difficult to find problems. I then went back through with this book. I passed the test (in 2002), but in hindsight, I would have done it the other way, That is, use the CE Reference first and then try my other books. This book is a real time saver, and the index is very thorough. I also use it regularly in practice. For perspective, I took the "Water Resources" test.
5 stars (Perfect companion for the morning session) - This book is more or less standard-issue for PE-takers (come exam day, you'll see zillions of the CERM scattered throughout the exam hall). If you find yourself on the fence about shelling out the $$ for it, I've found it to be a good investment.Having recently taken and passed the PE exam, I can attest to this book's usefulness. The index, in particular, I found to be pretty expansive - I used it to find answers to more than one problem where I was fairly clueless.Please note, the CERM's utility is certainly highest on the morning (breadth) section. Although it won't be entirely useless on the afternoon (depth) portion of the exam, you'll definitely utilize other references more heavily. I, for one, was impressed by how lopsided the difference in difficulty between sections turned out to be.Regardless of exam section, each question is equally weighted; thus, it's best to "clean house" where it's easiest - in the morning. You'll find this manual quite useful for that.My $0.02...