Soil improvement by preloading with PVD in combination with vacuum is helpful when a considerable load is required to meet the desired rate of settlement in a relative short time. To facilitate the vacuum propagation, vertical drains are usually employed in conjunction. This ground improvement method is more and more applied in the Mekong delta of Vietnam to meet the needs of fast infrastructure development. This paper reports on a pilot test that was carried out to investigate the effect of ground improvement by vacuum and PVD on the rate of consolidation at the site of Saigon International Terminals Vietnam (SITV) in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Viet Nam. Three main aspects of the test will be presented, and namely, instrumentation and field monitoring program, calculation of consolidation settlement and back-analysis of soil properties to see the difference before and after ground improvement.