<p><p><strong>References:<br></strong><em>Kitazume (2005)<br>Murakami et al. (2006)<br>SHRP 2-Phase I Technology Assessment</em></p><p><strong>Method Summary</strong></p><p>Settlement plates should be installed after SCP installation and should be read at an established time interval in order to monitor the site’s settlement development.</p><p><strong>Accuracy and Precision</strong></p><p>Settlement plates provide a reliable value of the total amount of settlement.</p><p><strong>Adequacy of Coverage</strong></p><p>The adequacy of coverage depends on the number of settlement plates used.</p><p><strong>Implementation Requirements </strong></p><p>Once installed, the settlement plates/platforms are easy to take readings from. However, the risers for the settlement plates require protection during construction.</p><p><strong>General Comments</strong></p><p>Settlement plates/platforms provide a method to evaluate the performance of SCPs after installation. Settlement plates are typically only used for SCPs in cohesive soils where a significant amount of settlement is anticipated during and after installation. By recording the amount of settlement, the degree of consolidation can be determined and it can be seen whether or not the anticipated amount of reduced settlement was achieved. The usefulness of settlement plates is measured by the accuracy of the predicted settlement with SCPs. If the predicted ultimate settlement is highly erroneous, it can be difficult to apply settlement plates/platforms to assess the project’s progress.</p></p>