This paper analyzes the site-measured settlement of the Yiluo River alluvial flat soft clay foundation in Henan province using the exponential method and the hyperbolic method; and calculates the final settlement and the consolidation parameters of the foundation. It is found that using the back-calculated permeability coefficient to calculate the settlement by FEA method is more close to the fact than the one calculated using test coefficient. Through analyzing a lot of field test data
the relationship between settlement and embankment height is summarized; and the critical embankment height 2.5 m on soft ground is obtained