Settlement monitoring

Operations such as ground compensation or excavation can cause unwanted settlement of nearby structures.

Settlement degrades the performance of foundations, leading to cracks, tilting, and possible failure of the supported structure. Monitoring can provide early detection of settlement, track changes, and help control corrective actions.

Monitoring settlement requires a solid understanding of ground mechanics to design the correct approach. GEO-Instruments has many solutions that can be matched to project conditions.

GEO-Instruments has comprehensive experience in solutions using hydrostatic levelling cells, manufactured in-house by our German division. These sensors can be installed on façades, ceilings or in basements to establish a two-dimensional network of points in order to detect local settlements. With the use of a stable reference established outside the area of predicted settlement we can detect vertical displacements with sub-millimetre accuracy.

Settlement monitoring is also highly effective where controlled settlement or heave is the aim of the site activity.

Settlement plates installed in-ground under an embankment load for instance provide a targeted map of the achieved ground settlement, in real-time. This monitoring solution is designed to provide our clients with a continuous view of the in-ground movements, immediately detecting when the target value is reached. These low-latency results can save time and materials when used as part of construction control.

These techniques, and other solutions such as AMTS and tilt monitoring, all combined on our web monitoring platform, allow confirmation of the settlement that’s encountered. This is vital in urban environments where ground settlement is a critical parameter needing to be tracked early and continuously before thresholds are reached. Our solutions can prevent the need for corrective measures and help inform them when necessary.