Preloading surcharge method along with vertical drains was adopted to improve the performance of a very soft marine clay deposit. The onshore deposit, located in the Ulsan Bay area, consists of a 2 to 10m thick, very soft, highly compressible marine clay layer developed just below. the sea water level. The initial undrained shear strength of the clay layer was about 0.6 ton/m2. But, the deposit was designed after treatment to support some auxiliary facilities for a new ilo refinery plant, requiring bearing capacities of 3.6 to 5.4 ton/m2 and maximum allowablee settlement of less than 7.5cm. A total of 35, 000 wick drains Ivas installed to expedite drainage during preloading, and surcharge loads of up to 5m above the original ground level were applied in a step-by-step loading sequence to prevent ground failure by excess surcharge loads. An extensive program of field instrumentation was implemented to monitor the behavior of the clay deposit. Measurers!ends included settlements, excess pore pressure and its dissipation, ground farmer level fluctuation, and lateral movement of the so(t clay layer under the preloads. This paper describes the design concepts, construction methods and control procedures used for improvement of the clay layer. It also presents the ground behavior measured during construction, rind comparisons with theoretical predictions.