Abstract: Shielded tunnel excavations often encounter the situation of under crossing the river leveesin the urban metro construction. The soil movement induced by the shielded tunnel excavation might have adverse impact on the river levee above so that it is necessary to evaluate the potential influence of tunnel excavation on the safety of levees. This paper presents a case history of a metro tunnel excavation. The influence of shielded tunnel excavation on the south side of the river levee above was simulated by a commercial finite element analysis software FLAC3D. The results indicate that the maximum settlement induced by the tunnel excavation is 4.94 mm and this value is less than the allowable value of 15 mm defined in the design code. The river levee is determined to be safe. To improve the construction quality and to reduce tunnel excavation risk, the excavation penetration rate is optimized based on the tunnel design plan. At the same time, the grouting while excavation and after excavation are also planned so that potential soil disturbance induced by the construction and be reduced.