In the calculation of creep in soft clay using element models,model parameters exhibit significant variability under different consolidation pressures and show high sensitivity to soil physical indices and stress states.This necessitates extensive parameter calibration and multiple iterative adjustments,making direct application in engineering with difficulty.To address these issues,we focus on a sea reclamation project to investigate the creep characteristics of soft clay at varying depths through one-dimensional consolidation creep tests.Then we employ the generalized Kelvin model to fit the creep test curves,and carry out a normalization analysis to propose empirical formulas for five parameters within the model.The results show that the normalized Kelvin model features simplicity in parameters and strong applicability.The parameters can be fitted using indices such as consolidation load,gravity density,void ratio,liquid limit void ratio,and depth.Compared with the Burgers model and the Singh-Mitchell model,the Kelvin model better fits the experimental data,with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.98.Compared with actual engineering monitoring results,this model can effectively reflect and predict the creep behavior of deep soft foundations.