Civil Engineering Optional PYQs – Topic-wise (2004–2026)

Civil Engineering Optional PYQs Topic-wise for UPSC Mains (2004–2026) are listed below unit by unit, in the order of the official syllabus – 1325 questions in all. Click any unit to open all its previous year questions, arranged topic-wise with the latest first.

Paper I

Unit	Topic (click to open PYQs)	Sub-topics	Questions	Link
1	Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials and Structural Analysis	17	155	Click here →
2	Design of Structures: Steel, Concrete and Masonry Structures	11	125	Click here →
3	Fluid Mechanics, Open Channel Flow and Hydraulic Machines	10	156	Click here →
4	Geotechnical Engineering	12	154	Click here →

Trend: The four units carry almost exactly equal weight – about a quarter of the paper each – both since 2013 and in the last five years. Within them, hydraulic turbines and hydropower (topic 3.10), shear strength (4.3), earth pressure (4.6), steel connections (2.1) and consolidation (4.5) have been the most frequent topics since 2013. In 2022–2026 indeterminate structures have come up more often – slope-deflection and moment distribution (1.12) and energy methods (1.11) – along with earth pressure, steel connections, laminar flow and RC columns.

Paper II

Unit	Topic (click to open PYQs)	Sub-topics	Questions	Link
1	Construction Technology, Equipment, Planning and Management	12	174	Click here →
2	Surveying and Transportation Engineering	13	205	Click here →
3	Hydrology, Water Resources and Engineering	13	181	Click here →
4	Environmental Engineering	6	149	Click here →
5	Environmental Pollution	5	26	Click here →

Trend: Surveying and transportation (about 26%), hydrology and water resources (about 25%) and construction technology and management (about 23–24%) take most of the paper, environmental engineering about 20%, and environmental pollution only about 4%. Construction materials (topic 1.1) is the single most-asked topic, followed by water treatment (4.2), CPM and PERT (1.12) and sewage treatment (4.5). Railway points, crossings and track geometry (2.7), groundwater and wells (3.4), traffic engineering (2.13) and pavement design (2.9) have been asked more often in 2022–2026.

How this collection is organised

Considering the changing exam pattern over the years, we felt it necessary to declare some practices we’ve adopted in this collection.

1. Units follow the official syllabus – Paper 1: 1 Engineering Mechanics, Strength of Materials and Structural Analysis, 2 Design of Structures, 3 Fluid Mechanics, Open Channel Flow and Hydraulic Machines, 4 Geotechnical Engineering; Paper 2: 1 Construction Technology, Equipment, Planning and Management, 2 Surveying and Transportation Engineering, 3 Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering, 4 Environmental Engineering, 5 Environmental Pollution. Because the notification’s sub-heads are very broad, each unit is divided here into finer topics (for example Paper 1 – 1.12 Slope-deflection and moment distribution); these topic numbers differ from the notification’s sub-head numbers. Where a unit has many questions, they are further divided by these topics.

2. Questions on areas the syllabus does not name separately are placed under the nearest topic: for example, principal stresses and thin cylinders under simple stress and strain (Paper 1 – 1.5); member forces in determinate trusses under statics (1.1) and their deflections under energy methods (1.11); RC footings under RC compression members (2.8); stability checks of gravity retaining walls under earth pressure (4.6); pumps under hydraulic turbines (3.10); setting out of curves under the highway, railway or survey topic concerned; and locomotive hauling capacity under railway track geometry (Paper 2 – 2.7).

3. Every question is kept in its own paper; questions on a Paper 1 subject asked in Paper 2 (for example permeability or channel design) are placed under the nearest Paper 2 topic.

4. Some questions cover more than one topic. We’ve kept such questions in each topic of relevance.

5. Every figure printed with a question is given as a complete description in square brackets – [Figure: …] – with every member, support, dimension, load and value shown, so that the question can be solved from the description.

6. Graphs at the start of each paper show the weightage of every unit in that paper, and graphs for each unit show the weightage of its topics. Weightage is the share of marks asked from a unit or topic, compared for 2013–2026 (white bars) and the last five years, 2022–2026 (black bars). A question placed under two topics has its marks split equally between them.

7. Each of the topicwise question is suffixed by a question code like this [2024/20m/2a]. This code indicates a) year in which the question was asked, b) maximum marks the question carried, c) prescribed word limit (where UPSC set one, e.g. 150w) and, d) the question number in actual paper, in given order.

8. Until 2012, each paper carried 300 marks (60 per question); since 2013 each paper carries 250 marks (50 per question). Where a question offered more parts than were to be answered (“any five” of six parts in 2004 and 2009–2010), every part is included with its own marks.

9. 2016–2026 papers are transcribed from the official UPSC question papers, 2009–2015 from scans of the printed papers and 2004 from a scan of a printed compilation. No copy of the 1995–2003 and 2005–2008 Civil Engineering papers could be found, so those years are not included.

10. The wording, figures and data of the questions are as printed, including the papers’ own grammar and apparent misprints such as wrong units.

Spotted an error? Use the “Report an Error” box at the end of any page – we review every report and update the page.

Last updated: 30 October 2026