The first part of this paper is an account of the typical layers of Shanghai soils, with empirical formulas correlating different soil parameters. Such has been the result of the writers' effort in geotechnical engineering consultative service and in researches for preparation and revision of foundation engineering codes of practice. It is hoped that these may be useful for others and also for future developments in marine geotechnology in the Donghai Sea (East China Sea) since the seabed soils are in close kindred relationship to land area deposits.

The second part of the paper begins with studies on horizontal permeability and increase of undrained strength with effective overburden pressure for typical soil layers. On these soils, design of the shallow foundation of a 20 000-ton oil tank with scheduling for a water test pre-loading period has resulted in considerable economic savings.