The application of the artificial network drainage system in the techniques of dam construction using slurry pumps provides practical examples and theoretical guidance for building mud dams in the heavy silt loam region，as well as scientific basis for promoting and populating this technology in the similar areas． The loess soils from Dagou basin near Xiwu village of Baishui County in Shaanxi Province were collected as study materials． The layout of drainage system，construction methods and drainage effects were investigated and compared in this study． The designs and the layout of the drainage pipeline influenced decisively the effectiveness of the drainage． The drainage system using polyethylene corrugated pipes with micro-apertures could speed up the dehydration and consolidation of the dam to some extent，but the effect was not highly significant． The heavy silt loam had a high content of clay，which lead to the difficulty in drainage． The utilization of artificial network drainage technology in building dams with mud pumps in deed accelerated the dehydration and consolidation of the dams，although the effects were not highly significant． More investigations are required in selecting optimal pipes as filtering materials，designing drainage pipes reasonably and improving the layout plans．