At present, two design methods are both adopted for shield tunnel receiving the history of the load; one is “The design method considering the history of the load” and the other is “The design method not considering the history of the load”. But, it hasn't been proved which is more rational. Therefore, to investigate the cross-sectional behaviour of such a shield tunnel, model tests in sand-box and the numerical analyses based on the above-mentioned two design methods are carried out. Consequently, it reveals that “The design method considering the history of the load” is more rational than the other one and in the numerical analyses, the Beam-Spring Model, in which ground springs set all around the tunnel lining, can explain the results of model tests better.