LARE Section 4 Suggestions after passing in December
Chris W
First, this exam is broad but basic. If you obsess with learning every aspect of construction, grading and construction documentation, you will never get around to writing this exam. Someone could easily spend a full month just learning irrigation. Think broad and basic when preparing for this exam I kept in mind public safety and welfare since this is the primary concern for registered LA's and CLARB. As I went through material, I continuously asked myself what factors effect safety, health and welfare. Memorizing a list of fasteners is fine and dandy but knowing why one is preferred and why one would fail, when installing, for example, a deck joist, is the critical factor. It’s important to know what factors cause failures, whether that be grading a swale or designing a retaining wall. The exam is called ‘Grading, Drainage and Construction Documentation”, so it’s clear that Grading, Drainage and Construction should be major focuses for study.
Books:
I primarily used 2 books for studying, Time Saver Standards for Landscape Architects (TSS) by Harris and Dines and Site Engineering for Landscape Architects by Strom, Nathan and Woland. You could use Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards by Hopper instead of TSS but buying both is probably overkill not to mention really expensive. Do not underestimate how valuable Site Engineering by Strom is. This should be a must buy for this exam unless you are a grading and storm water management expert. I live in the mountains and do a fair amount of grading in the office and still found this book immensely valuable. This book covers a lot more than just slope calculations.
Other resources I found useful:
-“Constructions, Specifications Writing” by Rosen, Kalin, Wegener, and Weygant
-YouTube – careful with the source, there is a lot of crap construction practices on there as well
-CSI Masterformat
-LARE Google Groups - discussions - which is why I am posting here
-LAREPrep Exams by ProProf
-CLARB’s YouTube Video and Orientation Guide
-Cheryl Corson
- I have friends who have been able to attend Ray Freemans courses and said they were very good as well. But I can't say first hand.
Books I wouldn’t recommend ( and why) but are on CLARB'S recommended reading list:
-Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards – Student Version, Hopper. -- I had this book already from University and was hoping to use it to study but after getting into it, I determined that it is not detailed enough or broad enough to adequately cover all the materials needed for this exam. Buy TSS or the full Landscape Architectural Graphic Standards. The student edition doesn’t cut it. I accidently bought the India version of TSS through amazon. It worked just fine.
- Sustainable Sites Handbook by Meg Calkins. – Now this book is a well-regarded resource for Section 3, and I’m currently using it to study for that exam but for section 4, I didn't find it that useful. I found that much of the useful material was already covered well in Strom and TSS in regards to construction, grading and drainage. You can save yourself the time and skip this book for section 4 exam. That being said, if you are a book junkie, or want to read more on SITES, or plan to take the SITES exam, this book is well written. Just don’t stress about it for LARE section 4.
-Landscape Architect’s Portable Handbook by Dines and Brown – Disclaimer, I didn’t read this one personally but I flipped through a friends and have heard from others that TSS or Graphic Standards (full version) is a much more valuable resource. It seemed to me that the materials overlap but are covered better in Graphic Standards and TSS. If you need to spend money on books, this one is not that valuable.
With that being said, here is a breakdown of my strategy:
1) Read Site Engineering for Landscape Architects (Strom) and Timesavers Standards (TSS) (or Graphic Standards, whichever you have). I have TSS so the chapters referenced below are from that. I spent a month with Strom and a month with TSS then a couple weeks looking at any missing material not covered in the two books (like traffic control, emergency plans, lighting plan layout etc.). In TSS: I read all the sections on materials (wood, concrete, masonry, soil, metal, etc.) I read the circulation chapters( pedestrian, vehicle etc.). I skimmed the chapters on hazards like earthquake, mudslides etc. ( I just skimmed these and read the boxes that said “Key Points”). Since CLARB provides the same exam for candidates from Puerto Rico to Canada, I assumed that specific climatic hazards like avalanches probably wouldn’t be included in questions however flooding or land subsidence seemed like it could affect all regions so I paid more attention. I skimmed the chapter on wastewater with septic fields. I read the chapters on green roofs, planting plans and stormwater . I read the beginning chapters of TSS on contract administration and construction processes. Some chapters overlap with materials in Strom like the Chapters on Vehicular Circulation and Stormwater, so you might be able to skim some chapters.
I read Strom cover to cover with the exception of Chapter 1 which was more introductory. I bought the work book too, but honestly only used it a couple times. I skipped the case studies in Strom to help fast track all the material.
2) Do a little extra research on irrigation and lighting design if it is not something you practice. In my opinion, I didn’t find the chapters in TSS detailed enough for these two categories in terms of addressing layout and construction. I found YouTube and suppliers like Rainbird a good resource to fill in the gaps. That being said, don’t spend too long on all the details. Don’t spend a whole weekend just on irrigation and lighting. Think about safety first when trying to fill in the gaps. For example, irrigation backflow preventers, lighting spacing or light pollution make more sense to focus on from a safety point of view than how many drip emitters are needed for a xeriscape. Don’t get caught in all the small details. When time is tight and you're trying to fit all the material in, it is better to assume that the focus should relate more to potential safety issues regarding design and construction rather than specifics.
3) ADA standards. Things like ramps, handrail, letdown and stair standards are construction and often grading issues. These standards were put in place specifically for public health, safety and wellbeing. TSS covers this to some detail, Strom also has a little or you can access the Standards at: https://www.ada.gov/2010ADAstandards_index.htm. I live in Canada, so when I study for the LAREs I tend to glaze over U.S. specific organizations and standards because they don't apply here but ADA standards are useful to familiarize yourself with no matter where you are and in my personal opinion, Canada should have national standards that allow universal accessibility.
4) Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) grading and drainage means knowing stormwater best management practices inside and out. Memorize the diagrams, descriptions and uses regarding stormwater management from Strom. By the time you finish Strom you should know different dams, retention, detention ponds, bioengineering methods, catch basins etc. You should know the difference between the various methods for sedimentation and erosion control. Know this info inside and out, GRADING and Drainage is in the name of the Exam, this should be your first clue that Stormwater, and what to do with it, is important. I drew out all the retention, detention, infiltration basins, bioengineering details, catch basins, trench drains etc, listed in Strom and TSS and then covered the names of the components with paper to test myself. I found this very useful for memorizing the differences between different stormwater management devices.
5) It can’t hurt to familiarize yourself with the glossary in Strom, you may or may not be familiar with some of the engineering terms depending on your type of work. The glossary is straight forward and not very long.
6) Don’t worry about spending time memorizing all the formulas in Strom (except rise/ run = slope). Keep in mind the that the exam is either multiple choice or drag and drop. You have 120 questions and 4 hours. That is about 2 minutes a question. CLARB knows that super complex formulas are too time consuming. It couldn’t hurt to know the main attributes of Manning’s Equation, TSS and the Rational Method but don't worry about memorizing every formula possibility for TSS. If you try to memorize all the variables and formulas for TSS, you won’t study anything else and you will likely throw Strom across the room and cry uncontrollably. Save your energy and sanity. Getting trapped in details like this can become all consuming. Besides, remember those allied professionals? It is in our best interest to use Civil Engineers or Hydrologic engineers for complex stormwater management projects. You should be able to know what civil is saying but you aren't writing the engineering exam. You shouldn’t expect to calculate anything too complex or time consuming.
7) That being said, you should know how to grade. This is L.A work. You should be able to look at contours and easily identify what a ridge, swale, HP and LP are. Remember that you have roughly 2mins per question, if you spend a minute looking at contours trying to figure out what is a ridge and what is a ditch, you’re wasting valuable time. You should do enough practice grading exercises prior to the exam to understand contour maps quickly so your time is focused on the question being asked not on deciphering contours. I used the following trick: RIDGES have a “D” so they always point DOWN hill. Therefore, Swales always point uphill. Basic area calculations and an understanding of cuts and fills also fall into Grading. This is all covered in Strom. Make sure when you do practice exercises that the highest contour is sometimes at the bottom of the page so you’re used to looking at contours descending in different direction. I would literally, print out and turn the page so I wasn’t always looking at the problems the same way.
8) Grading doesn’t just include surface runoff. How pipes and catch basins connect and flow into each other can also effect grading and drainage. Again don’t worry about complex formulas like pipe sizing which would likely be done by Civil. Basic rise/run=slope applies to underground pipes the same way it does to surface runoff. Pipes flow downhill and that they progressively get bigger as they head to an outlet. ( this is clearly covered in Strom)
9) Strom and TSS both cover vertical and horizontal road alignment. Again, complex freeways wouldn't fall into a LAs scope of work so don't stress too much. But lower capacity or recreation roads sometimes do. I wouldn’t stress about complex calculations but an understanding of the components of good road design and circulation can be relevant. Obviously safety issues like sight lines, sight triangles, effects on braking distances should always be top of mind when designing around roads, this isn't specific to section 4 but just generally good practice.
10) I found it really hard getting material on Emergency Access Plans. CLARB, ( I know you read these posts) what do you mean by emergency access plans?? I just googled a lot. This website has information on locks and controls : https://www.knoxbox.com/
Mostly I googled “Emergency Access plans”, “Emergency Evacuation Plans” etc. From what I found, emergency plans vary greatly on the scale of project and reason for evacuation. Roads on high ground may be appropriate for flood evacuation but not appropriate for a forest fire. Campuses and buildings often have emergency muster points as well as floor plans showing exits for each building. Some cities, install special traffic lights that turn traffic lights red to allow emergency vehicles through. This is such a general term. Hopefully in the future, CLARB can provide a resource that better outlines what they mean. Don’t get stuck in the rabbit hole on this one. In addition to reading the circulation chapters and skimming hazards in TSS, I google searched this for like 45 mins. There is enough other material to study that I figured that it wasn't worth my time or energy to research this too much.
12) Don’t skimp on specifications, general conditions etc. I know this was covered in section 1. Look at it again. Seriously. CLARB says in their Orientation Guide that specifications are 15% of the exam. That’s a good chunk. Enough to fail for sure. I have the book “Constructions, Specifications Writing” by Rosen, Kalin, Wegener, and Weygant. Its quite good but you only need like 4 chapters from it. You could use any book that clearly breaks down how a specifications document is structured, when its used, and the types of specifications ( Proprietary, Prescriptive, Performance etc.) . I spent a weekend reviewing it and that was enough in addition to the first couple chapters in TSS regarding contract administration. If you’ve written section 1 it’s a refresher but not reviewing specifications before this exam would be a mistake.
13) Material testing methods. When you read all the materials chapters, tests or material finishes or treatments will be discussed like slump tests, wood preservatives, isolation and control joints, etc. I found this immensely boring to read and to try to keep straight. I need images to understand how these tests and finishes are applied to construction details or specifications. If you already do lots of field reviews where performance and testing of materials is part of the scope of work, you may be good but for myself I found YouTube a great resource for examples of these tests. Organizations like ASTM have lots of educational videos on slump tests, air tests etc. And it was something that could play while I made dinner or was doing other life things. Sometimes its nice to not read.
-I would draw out a lumber tag and cover the different parts and test myself.
- the # on rebar refers to the size diameter of the rebar, look at TSS for this. You can divide the rebar number by 1/8. I think. I'm writing this from memory. So #3 rebar = 3/8, #4 rebar = 4/8 etc. In Metals chapter in TSS
- Bark is on the outside of a tree therefore your boards should always face out towards the elements (bark side up) TSS- Wood
- " The key to construction joints are dowels and keys", "Corners need controls" (concrete chapter TSS)
…. This is not an exhaustive list of tricks and may not help depending on your learning style. Just examples I remember after reading TSS. I would write these down on flashcards. A trip to your local hardware store is useful for familiarizing yourself with material sizes, classifications and various fasteners. When you start going cross eyed from reading about materials, head to Home Depot for a change of scenery.
15) I found reviewing CSI masterformat useful. The way its organized is similar to how work is carried out on a site. For example, Clearing and grubbing comes before planting. Also its format can be handy for better understanding how Specifications are organized. You don’t need to memorize the order of every chapter. That would be crazy. But I found it useful to review the structure of the document.
22) Regarding Wayfinding Plans, I would review Lynch or just google wayfinding design and watch some youtube videos. Unlike Emergency Access Plans (see my criticism above), there is a ton online about the theory of wayfinding design. That being said, don’t spend too long on this. There is so much info on wayfinding that you could spend days going through websites. I focused on the general principles and general hierarchy of how people find their way through spaces then moved on. I didn’t find any of CLARBS recommended books adequately covered this topic. TSS has a bit on signs, and a little on lighting, but like I said, easy to find online.
23) Don’t spend too long on trying to understand how a nomogram is used. You’ll see them in Strom. They will seem overwhelming and confusing. In summary: you just connect the dots. (Strom)
24) for Traffic control plans all I watched were the following two YouTube Videos. Again, I found that CLARB’S recommended reading list doesn’t adequately address these plans though an understanding of Circulation design makes sense and is covered in TSS. The YouTube videos were: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7BWJbpI7zw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udCHL0xjCBE&t=141s. Temporary Traffic Control Zones part 1of 2.mov and 2of 2.
In terms of practice exams:
The CLARB practice exam and youtube video was also helpful. I would watch the youtube video and pause it for a question, try to determine the answer myself than continue playing to see if I got it right.
Kristina Zalite
Chris W
NilooH
Mikey Goralnik
Jess
Chris W
Chris W
Zach
stefano ascari
Chris W
That being said, know how to grade and including how to calculate slope of pipes and calculate invert elevations for pipes. I can’t imagine you will have to size the pipe.
