The Hydrocon hydraulic consolidation cell is the basic part of the apparatus used for the determination of the magnitude and rates of consolidation of soil specimens of relatively low permeability using hydraulically loaded apparatus. This procedure overcomes the complexity usually associated with hydraulic oedometers and allows more information to be gathered from the soil sample. Pore water pressure is measured using a pressure transducer and vertical settlement using a linear strain transducer (or, as economical alternative, a dial gauge). As the Hydrocon is a confined consolidation system, it is possible to measure both pore and back pressure during testing.