<p>Conventional vacuum preloading methods often encounter issues such as clogging around prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), leading to uneven soil consolidation and differential ground settlement. To address these limitations, the prefabricated radiant drain (PRD) vacuum preloading method was proposed. To verify the engineering performance of the PRD vacuum preloading technology under real and complex geological conditions, this study investigates the effectiveness of the PRD vacuum preloading method in reinforcing soft ground through a full-scale field test at the Huanghua Port Bulk Cargo Terminal Mineral Powder Storage Yard Project in Hebei Province, China. The test compared the PRD method with the conventional PVD vacuum preloading technique over an area of more than 200 m². Results indicate that the PRD method significantly enhances soil reinforcement, increasing average surface settlement by 35.6% and reducing final average pore water pressure by 24.5% compared to the conventional method. The average vane shear strength of the soil after reinforcement using PRD increased by 21.7%, while the average water content decreased by 22.0%. Additionally, PRD effectively mitigated non-uniform consolidation, reducing differential pore water pressure changes by 38.1% and decreasing the variation in soil shear strength at both the PRD locations and the midpoints between adjacent PRDs. This study confirms that PRD technology offers significant advantages in efficiently and environmentally friendly reinforcing soft ground and recycling dredged silt, providing valuable insights for similar projects.</p>