A method for predicting ground surface settlement in artificial thawing period of tunnel horizontal frozen wall is presented based on the stochastic medium theory. In this method

the artificial thawing process of frozen wall is taken into account

and the temperature field of frozen wall under artificial thawing conditions is approximately derived using the single-pipe thawing theory. Based on the calculation formulation for thawing settlement in the one-dimensional case proposed by ЦЫТОВНИЧ

the methods of calculating the thawing soil column radius and the inner radius of thawing contractive region are derived. The proposed methods are applied to predict the ground surface settlement during the artificial thawing process of a full-section horizontally frozen circular tunnel. It is found that ground surface settlement distribution in the artificial thawing period is similar to that in a natural thawing period

though the temporal variation of the ground surface settlement exhibits a linear growth trend

which is different from that of the natural thawing period.