When clay foundations of embankments are treated with vertical drain, essentially, the strain occurs to vertical direction but the water flow is radial. The initial horizontal permeability and its variation with the vertical compression are key parameters for the choice of the type of drains, their spacing, and affect to the cost of the project. In this study, CRS consolidation test is performed to investigate the anisotropic characteristics of decomposed mudstone soil and direct permeability test is performed on the same specimens. The results of testing show that Ch is larger than Cv. specially, the Cv - $sigma$v relationship for a soil sample is viewed from three different curve segments corresponding to overconsolidated, transition and normally consolidated states. The anisotropic ratio, rk(kh/kv) is 2.19. Coefficient of permeability in normally consolidated state is related to its void ratio and permeability parameter n. C can be determined from a linear plot of log[k(1+e)] versus log e. The slope, n, of graphs is the same, whereas the vertical intercept, log C, seems to vary somewhat for anisotropic.