The calculated settlement from Eq. 7.3 can significantly underestimate the actual settlement at
the site in cases where there is settlement due to secondary influences (such as collapsible soil) or
in cases where there is a deep looser or softer layer that is not affected by the small plate, but is
loaded by the much larger footing. For example, the plate load test only gives information on the
soil to a depth of about two times the bearing plate width or diameter. In addition to this limitation,
the test is time consuming and expensive to perform and hence it is used less frequently than the other methods described below. Probably because of its infrequent use, ASTM withdrew this test
from publication in December 2002.