Shield tunnelling in soft soils inevitably disturbs the surrounding environment and induces ground surface settlements. The serviceability and safety of the structures in the vicinity can be jeopardized in case that excess settlements are observed. A comprehensive understanding of the influencing factors of shield tunnelling induced ground settlements and an accurate settlement prediction are of great importance for minimizing the environment impacts of shield tunnelling. Taking the load of the shield into account

the Mindlin’s solution is introduced to calculate the additional stress in soils beneath the shield

and the layer-wise summation method is applied to calculate the final one-dimensional consolidation settlement. The duration of additional stress in soils relies on the shield advance rate and its halt time

and the corresponding consolidation settlement can be calculated using the Terzaghi’s one-dimensional consolidation theory. Finally

the relationship between consolidation settlements and ground surface settlements is established by Peck equation. The theory is verified by in-situ monitored ground surface settlements in construction of Hangzhou Qing-chun Road cross-river tunnel in China. These studies show that the shield advance rate and machine halt duration have a significant impact on the ground surface settlements

and the increase in shield advance rate and decrease in machine halt duration favors the settlement control.