nbr:
Very interesting question when it comes to how the fill is placed and finally is found to settle. Say the job lasts three months, in the case of a dam built on hard rock. Let's say it takes about a week to get 50% "compression effect", a month to get 90% for a typical layer of the fill material for a given layer thickness and loading pressure. Each layer however gets a different loading situation and with time and any "drainage" may be different. So when the job finally is done, which layer is then contributing how much to the total settlement of the final surface, as related to time? A good job for a computer programmer to predict the final settlement rate and amount at the top surface. Then, when all is done, work backwards and compare to lab consolidation test data to see how you did in predicting when job schedules are subject to variations with time..
I think the guess of 1 or 2 percent might be easier.