GATE Exam Questions Questions

• Soil exploration – common tool for obtaining a disturbed sample Which sampler is most commonly used to obtain a disturbed soil sample during in-situ investigations for foundation design?
• Water Chemistry – Comparing Acidity Using pH (Logarithmic Scale) Two water samples have pH values: Sample A = 4.4 and Sample B = 6.4. By how many times is Sample A more acidic than Sample B?
• Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge – Main Biogas Constituents During the anaerobic digestion process in a sludge digester, which gases constitute the primary components of the produced biogas?
• Paving Bitumen – Specific Gravity Range (IS: 73–1992) According to IS: 73–1992 (paving bitumen), the specific gravity of paving grade bitumen lies between which of the following limits?
• Consistency Limits – Behavior Beyond the Shrinkage Limit If a fine-grained soil is dried further after reaching its shrinkage limit, what volumetric behavior will it exhibit?
• RCC Columns – Purpose of Lateral Ties under Axial Compression In a reinforced concrete rectangular column subjected to predominantly axial compression, what is the primary function of providing lateral ties?
• Building Steelwork – Beam Carrying Wall and Slab Loads A steel beam that supports loads from a floor slab and also carries the weight of a wall along the edge of a building is commonly referred to as which type of beam?
• IS 456 (1978) – Minimum Clear Cover Requirements According to IS: 456–1978, what are the minimum clear covers (in mm) for main reinforcement in the following members, respectively: slab, beam, column, and footing?
• Fluid Mechanics – Centre of pressure on a vertical plane surface in a static liquid Why does the centre of pressure always lie below the centroid of the surface area?
• Structural Analysis – Propped cantilever of span L under uniform load w (per unit length) With a prop at the free end ensuring zero deflection there, what is the bending moment at the fixed end?
• Soil Consistency Limits – Order of liquid, plastic, and shrinkage limits for cohesive soils Choose the correct inequality among liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and shrinkage limit (SL).
• Surveying – Area from a reduced plan after proportional shrinkage Original plan scale = 10 m to 1 cm. A line 10 cm long becomes 9 cm after reduction. The reduced plan area is 81 cm². What is the actual area (m²) on the ground?
• Pavement Distress Identification – Where is alligator (map) cracking most commonly observed?
• Earth Pressure Theories – Coulomb’s wedge assumptions Which statement matches a core assumption in Coulomb’s earth pressure theory?
• Traffic Flow (Greenshields model) – Linear speed–density relation Free-flow speed = 80 km/h; jam density = 100 vehicles/km. Compute the maximum flow (vehicles/h) and the speed at that flow.
• Soil Mechanics – Sensitivity of clays What is the ratio of the unconfined compressive strength of an undisturbed sample to that of a remoulded sample at the same water content called?
• Consolidation Time Scaling – Effect of thickness, permeability, and compressibility A clay layer reaches 90% consolidation in 15 years. If the layer becomes twice as thick, three times more permeable, and four times more compressible (all else same), what is the new time for 90% consolidation?
• Fluid Mechanics – Unit of dynamic viscosity (μ) in SI units Select the correct unit.
• Elastic stresses in soil — Boussinesq solution for a point load A concentrated load of 700 kN acts at the ground surface on a thick clay layer (assume a semi-infinite, homogeneous, isotropic, elastic half-space). Using Boussinesq’s formula, estimate the vertical stress σ_v at depth z = 2 m and radial distance r = 1.0 m from the load application point.
• Hydraulic jump in a rectangular channel — find Froude number from sequent depth ratio Given the sequent depth ratio y2 / y1 = 10.30 in a horizontal, rectangular channel, determine the upstream Froude number F1.