Abstract: Under the background of China's strategy to strengthen transportation industry, the mechanical performance and durability of shield tunnel ling face higher requirements with the increasing construction of ultra-long, large cross-section, deep buried and high-density developed shield tunnels. The traditional shield tunnel structure design theory and method and the current development trend are summarized based on an extensive investigation of domestic and foreign literatures. And the status quo and shortage of researches on shield tunnel structure's mechanical property and durability are discussed, the current shield tunnel structure performance detection technology and evaluation methods are further reviewed. In view of the limitations of the traditional reinforced concrete segment, the (steel) fiber concrete material, the new joint and the compression concrete lining have great advantages in improving the structural performance and construction efficiency of shield tunnel lining, which are the future development direction of shield tunnel lining structures.