To increase accuracy of estimating permeability coefficient of saturated soils using piezocone penetration tests (CPTU), taking account that the permeability coefficient of saturated soils estimated by the existing flow model to the spherical or the hemispherical surface is generally lower than the measured value, a modified approach was proposed, in which the initial excess pore water pressure, the location of filter element and seepage model were studied after the researches on evaluation of permeability coefficient of saturated soils were briefly reviewed. Based on the existing results, the initial excess pore water pressure around the shoulder of the cone was regarded as negative exponential attenuation distribution. Combined with the radial flow model to a cylindrical surface, the expression of horizontal permeability coefficient of saturated soils was derived. The comparison between the predicted and measured values demonstrates that the modified approach is reasonable and effective. The results show that the horizontal permeability coefficient determined by the modified approach is larger than that of previous approaches and more close to the corresponding measured value in laboratory tests. The horizontal permeability coefficient of saturated soils can be continuously and rapidly determined by CPTU.