Abstract: In order to study the compression behavior of cohesive soils, a large consolidometer with a diameter of 470 mm was designed and made by the author. The description of this apparatus, the test method of consolidation test and the preparation of soil samples were given in this paper. The results of consolidation tests on three samples with an initial water content of liquid limit were presented, and were compared with the results of the same samples but in the standard consolidation test. Based on the analysis of test results some useful conclusions are finally obtained for evaluating test results from the standard consolidation apparatus.