Measuring reclamation settlements

Land reclamation suffers large settlements after construction that can last for years on low-permeability soils which is often the case in Singapore where over 20% of its land area has been reclaimed from the sea on soft marine clays. This requires settlement monitoring over large areas for long periods which can be very costly with in situ measurement alone.

Settlement of a recently reclaimed area as part of Changi airport's expansion to the east was performed using InSAR analysis of data over a two-year period which showed that settlements were still ongoing over three years following reclamation.

Highlights

• Settlement monitoring over a two-year period of a large area of reclaimed land required large resources for in situ monitoring alone.

• InSAR analysis of satellite data provided settlement data with millimetric accuracy for a two-year period.

• Settlements were ongoing at least three years following reclamation due to the low-permeability foundation soils.