Nowadays more and more engineering structures are constructed on soft soils of low strength. High compressibility, low permeability and liability to secondary compression of these soils can result in long-term settlements and a menace with critical situations when the construction deadlines are tough. To cope with these problems several technologies have recently been developed in the embankment construction practice. Staged construction, over-filling, vertical drainage, stone columns, dynamic compaction - all of them often combined successfully with geosynthetics - are preferred to the previously predominant technology of soil replacement. Nevertheless, common design methods often do not balance properly the structural modeling, computation, economical and construction aspects. This is why a correct design may become a subject of reconsideration and modification in specific circumstances. There remains a room for innovative approaches, when conventional solutions are used. Two examples seem to prove that construction combined with monitoring may tum out to be good compromises. © 2007 Akadémiai Kiadó.