Abstract: Installation of a driven pile will generate excess pore pressures in the clay adjacent to the pile.Pile capacity mostly depends on the dissipation of the excess pore pressures.The reconsolidation of the clay around the pile is investigated,assuming that the Mechant model can be used to describe the visco-elastic features of the soil.The initial excess pore distribution away from the pile wall varies according to the cylindrical cavity expansion theory.The governing equation is derived under the continuity condition.The general solution is obtained by separating the variables and using the Laplace transform and the inverse transform.The corresponding solutions are introduced into a program and a case is analyzed using it.The results lead to the following conclusions:1) The vertical consolidation has great influence on the soil whose depth is less than 5.0 m;and 2) The visco-elastic feature of the soil delay consolidation usually happens obviously at the middle to late stages.