Abstract: Taking the shaft wall design of a vertical shaft as engineering background. We used theoretical calculation formula to determine the wall thickness selection range, and use analytic hierarchy process (ahp) to decompose the problem into different hierarchies, and then obtained the priority weights of each element of each level on an element of last level by solving and judging matrix eigenvector, and concluded the specific weights of affecting factors. We finally determine the reasonable vertical shaft wall thickness by multiplying researching scores with weight. On the premise of ensuring the safety of shaft, we fully consider the economy of vertical design. The results show that using analytic hierarchy process (ahp) to optimize expert evaluation by mathematical knowledge can draw the weights closer to the practice compared with the traditional design of vertical shaft wall thickness. By multiplying researching scores with weights, we can get more scientific and reliable decision scheme.