In view of the issues of low prediction accuracy for structural response and inefficient safety warning during the construction of ship lock heads on soft soil foundations,a prediction method for the structural response of the lock head slab under multi-factor coupling effects is investigated.Utilizing an actual ship lock head project as a case study,a three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) and the response surface methodology (RSM) are employed to analyze the influence mechanisms of relevant factors on the structural response indicators of the lock head floor slab.A predictive equation for the load-induced response of the lock head floor slab is established,and its prediction accuracy is evaluated.The results indicate that the influencing factors significantly affect the structural response of the lock head slab primarily by governing the composite foundation strength,coordinated deformation,load redistribution,and pile-soil interaction mechanism.The predicted results generally align with those from FEM calculations in terms of variation patterns,with prediction errors controlled within 5%.The RSM-based prediction method achieves high accuracy and can effectively predict the structural response indicators of the lock head floor slab on soft soil foundations during the construction phase.