Before construction, standard consolidation tests indicated that the stresses imposed by a high embankment on a deep and relatively homogeneous deposit of Leda clay would exceed the preconsolidation stress and result in settlements of up to 18 in. Later, the results of more refined sampling and testing methods showed that the preconsolidation pressure had been underestimated by 1 ton/sq. ft. and that the imposed stresses would in fact fall within the recompression range. Time-settlement relationships, however, were not elastic; vertical strains continued to increase long after the embankment was completed. Field measurements of settlement are compared with values computed using compression moduli determined both from consolidation and compression tests in the laboratory.