It is a big problem to reasonably formulate the control standard for settlements of pavement caused by tunnel construction. To address this problem

this study proposed a complete solution based on strict theoretical deduction

which took the driving comfort control standard as the starting point

and considered both the roughness of existing highway and the morphological characteristics of pavement settlement trough caused by tunnel construction. First

the vertical vibration acceleration was selected as the comfort index. Second

the ideal sinusoidal function was used to depict the longitudinal curve of highway pavement

and the relationship between the characteristic parameters of the existing highway longitudinal curve and the vertical vibration acceleration was revealed by derivation. Third

the Peck formula was applied to describe the morphological characteristics of pavement settlement trough induced by tunneling

and the relationship between the morphological characteristic parameters and the vertical vibration acceleration was obtained by derivation. Fourth

the formula for calculating the maximum vertical vibration acceleration was established by incorporating the overlapping effect of the existing highway roughness and the pavement settlement induced by tunneling. Finally

based on the relationship between the acceleration value and the subjective feeling of human body

the formula for determining the control standard of pavement settlement was proposed. Results show that the driving comfort was directly proportional to the wave length of the existing highway longitudinal curve and inversely proportional to its amplitude; the driving comfort was directly proportional to the width coefficient of the settlement trough and inversely proportional to the maximum settlement value of the pavement at the tunnel center line; and the driving comfort was inversely proportional to the square of the driving speed. Therefore

an effective way to relax the settlement control standard is to reduce the driving speed properly.