This website was started in 2021 after the founders sat, and thankfully all passed, the exam.
Whilst there are websites that provide resources for the buildings questions, we found that resources for the Bridge Question were more difficult to come by. This may be due to the relatively small number of engineers who choose to answer the Bridge Question: out of 525 people who sat the IStructE's Chartered Membership examination in January 2020, only 32 chose to answer the bridge question (Q3).
We were lucky enough to have some senior colleagues who could provide help but it was still a significant undertaking to put together a reference folder to take into the exam. We took the approach that we wanted to use methods that would be applicable in our careers, therefore we stuck to methods consistent with the Eurocodes. This turned out to be a good decision as we have all found the skills we learned for the exam have been invaluable on real projects ever since.
We believe that the IStructE's chartered membership offers advantages over other routes to chartership, and that one of the reasons relatively few people attempt it is that there is a high barrier to entry. Therefore, we want to make it easier for engineers to get started by providing suitable resources for the exam folder.
The pass rate for the exam is always low (typically 30-35%) but it is generally higher for people who have attended the IStructE's exam preparation course. You will find the course more useful if you have put together an exam folder beforehand: the course includes group sessions where you will attempt part 1a of a past paper, and you will be able to participate much more fully if you have tables of span to depth ratios and other information printed out.
We hope that you find the information on the site useful. If you think anything is missing, please let us know!
Contributions are very welcome, although we only accept content from chartered members of the IStructE. If you would like to contribute, then please get in touch.