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Sinkholes
Topic Started: Feb 21 2014, 08:30 PM (2,514 Views)
yass
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'night owl'
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Sinkhole events are too much of a topic to mix with other news in the same thread, I think. I don't know if I can keep up with or maintain this thread but we'll see how it goes. I'm not entirely sure where I left off in the news thread but I will begin here:

yass
13-02-2014
The first 10 pages of results today are all about the eight Corvettes that got swallowed up by a sinkhole.

Posted Image

Story, video footage from security cameras
http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/6822/20140213/corvette-sinkhole-museum-kentucky-8-expensive-cars-swallowed-video.htm



This is from December but interesting in the scheme of things:

Ancient Roman Tunnels Could Cause Dangerous Sinkholes; Geologists Mapping Rome's Underground Maze

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Geologists are mapping Rome's underground tunnels to prevent
the ground from collapsing.

Unbeknownst to many of the tourists who pace the ancient streets of Rome, below their feet lies a tangle of quarry tunnels, cut by the first Romans who built the city. But now those tunnels, carefully hewn by the original engineers, have become safety hazards that threaten to undermine modern roads and buildings.

According to a report from LiveScience, the threat isn't just academic. In recent years, dozens of collapses have been documented, and the number is rising. In 2011, 44 streets or portions of buildings fell into the quarries. In 2012, the number rose to 77. And so far in 2013, there have been 83 incidents. Now, scientists are trying to find the areas of weakness and prevent future disasters.

Continue reading at http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/6454/20131203/ancient-roman-tunnels-dangerous-sinkholes-geologists.htm






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yass
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yass
13-02-2014
SECOND giant sinkhole appears in Kent - this time in a mum's back garden

Engineers have told Gretel Davidson the 17ft-deep crater is a "total act of God"


Posted Image

Huge: The crater in Gretel Davidson's back garden could fit a double
decker bus


A second giant sinkhole has opened up in Kent - this time in a family's back garden.

Gretel Davidson said she didn't believe her 12-year-old daughter when she rang her to say a huge black hole had appeared in their lawn.

But when she got home she discovered the 17ft-deep, 10ft-wide chasm.

The sinkhole is the second to appear in the region after a 15ft-deep hole appeared in the central reservation of the M2 yesterday.

Experts have suggested they could be a result of the recent wet weather.

Shocked Gretel is now facing a £10,000 bill to have it repaired because her insurers say it hasn't damaged her home and they won't be paying up.

Gretel, a radiographer from Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, said: "I just feel totally helpless. Mia rang me to say 'Mum there is a massive hole in the garden'.

"I didn't really believe her and just thought she was going over the top.

"It is just unbelievable to think a hole that size could appear overnight and out of nowhere."

Posted Image

Shock: Gretel's insurers say the hole is not endangering her home
and won't pay for it to be repaired



Gretel, 55, knocked on her neighbour's doors to try and get some help but nobody had any idea what to do.

She added: "I got in touch with the council but they said they couldn't help because it's my own property.

"I then got in touch with Halifax, my home insurance, and they said the hole is too far away from my home so they couldn't help either.

"I am just devastated. I spent the whole weekend crying and have been doing everything I can to try and sort it out."

Structural engineer Dan Baker, director of DJB Structural Engineers Ltd in Erith, looked at the hole on Saturday and is drawing up an action plan.

He said: "It is a naturally occurring oblique swallow hole. It could cost upwards of £10,000 to fix.

"It is just one of those things you cannot predict - a total act of God.

"They are not common but they have been known to happen in this area in the past.

"Thankfully nobody was in the garden because someone could have died.

"We have got to make it safe as soon as possible."

A Bexley Council spokesman added: "Under such circumstances, the reinstatement work becomes the responsibility of the owner.

"Although the council is not liable for the reinstatement work, it is happy to provide advice.

"The owner was advised to contact her insurance company to see if her policy covers the incident.

"Our structural engineer also discussed the standard method used in the past to fill in these holes and provided the contact number of a reputable building contractor so that she could obtain a quotation."

A spokesman for Halifax Insurance said: "Following a thorough investigation our engineers are confident that this sinkhole has not caused any damage to the property and poses no threat to the structure of the home, therefore it is not covered by the insurance policy.

"As a gesture of goodwill however, we will offer to put a fence up around the sinkhole in the interest of health and safety."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/kent-sinkhole-second-crater-opens-3136748


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yass
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yass
15-02-2014
The sinkhole that swallowed the 8 Corvettes is still dominating the sinkhole news results. What astonished me last time around is that I kept flipping through pages of results to get beyond them and to the other stories that I knew would be there (normally would be there), only after 13 pages of results, it ended. There was no 14th page to turn to and the Corvette news filled the 13 pages I flipped through with few exceptions. Another unusual thing, take Earthquake results for instance, all the reports for one particular event will be grouped into one result section of the latest headlines, and below the section it will say something like view all 822 results> You click that link and it takes you to a results page that are the search results of all the reports streaming in about that particular earthquake event. The Corvette sinkhole event has not been presented or organized in the same way, freeing up room on the main sinkhole results page for other sinkhole event results other than the Corvette Museum event.

I leave behind far more than I take to post about. I kind of like a good story or interesting pictures, legislature, insurance, causes, speculation, statistics (such as that Florida sinkholes have more than tripled over the past 10 years, and even that is old or outdated news).

So, anyway, the Corvettes story is still dominating but I'm seeing more today speculating on the cause of the humungous sinkhole.


Weather could be spurring sinkholes

Heavy rains might have caused various sinkholes in Bowling Green, including this week’s collapse that claimed eight cars at the National Corvette Museum, but experts say it’s hard to know for sure.

“There’s really not any sort of predictability on sinkhole collapse,” said Josh Durkee, associate professor of meteorology at Western Kentucky University. “It’s plausible that these two are connected, but we can’t say at this moment.”
-----
Water can either cause or prevent a sinkhole, Polk said.

“When you have a lot of rain, it can cause a sinkhole formation to occur. It can take thousands of years or decades. As the water moves, it can make the soil heavy. It adds weight, and it may not be strong enough to hold it,” he said. “Another factor is when voids of water are underground. It’s void, but it still has water. If there’s a drought, it could remove the water and that causes the support to leave and causes collapse.”

Read in entirety:
http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/weather-could-be-spurring-sinkholes/article_18f2b71d-8e52-5d17-8144-cda1c626feef.html


Sinkholes and Corvettes: What The World Is Telling Us

Eight classic Corvettes fall into a sink hole this week in a museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Wow. Many times events happen in the news that tell a broader and deeper story.

I feel bad for the museum which lost these fancy cars and the owners who donated, but it does to me it does communicate something that maybe the universe has been trying to tell us. The earth opened up and swallowed what many see as a symbol of conspicuous consumption.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sinkholes-corvettes-world-telling-us/story?id=22514611


Kentucky Sinkhole Eats Corvettes, Raises Questions
Geologists explain what happened—and which other areas might be vulnerable.

Chris Groves, a university distinguished professor of hydrogeology at Western Kentucky University, surveyed the site briefly yesterday.

"Caves are a common feature in this part of the state," he says. "And we usually see sinkholes here after a hard rain. But as far as I can tell, what happened in this case was that drainage water has been coming off the museum building improperly for some time. And it focused and built up at one point on the soil.

"When that happens the soil gets washed into voids and pockets in the bedrock—the cave or caves—below ground. That enlarges the voids, and they eventually reach the surface. When there's finally a big enough pocket there, above the bedrock but right beneath the surface, the ground gives way.

"[You might say that] the improper drainage was the disease, and the collapse—the sinkhole—was the symptom. And the cure for it is structural: They have to fix the building's drainage system. Fortunately, the structural engineers around here are used to this sort of thing and know how to address it."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140213-corvette-sinkhole-kentucky-museum-science/


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yass
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Potholes are the usual nuisance.

yass
15-02-2014
Juneau sinkhole threatens fire station

JUNEAU, Alaska — One thinks of Florida when one envisions massive sinkholes swallowing whole buildings in a single gulp.

But in Juneau, the city not only has a massive sinkhole threatening its downtown fire station, but that hole may cost a million dollars to fill, the Juneau Empire reported (http://bit.ly/1f1I14h).

That's a hefty price tag in a city where the state budgets about $20,000 annually to fill pot holes.

Making the situation even more dangerous, the fire engines, which weigh more than 50,000 pounds, are sending vibrations through the already shaky ground, Capital City Fire and Rescue Chief Richard Etheridge said.

A hole that formed last fall was large enough to swallow a pickup, the chief said.

"I was able to stand in it up to my neck," said Etheridge, who stands about 6 feet 6 inches tall.

That sinkhole was filled, and firefighters continually make short-term fixes when sinkholes open up. But the fire department is looking for a long-term solution.

Juneau's downtown fire station is built on fill. Much of downtown Juneau, which sits at sea level, is built on wooden pilings and mine tailings from the AJ Mine.

Water still flows under the station, and the supporting soil beneath the rear parking lot has finally washed away after years of the tide moving in and out. That doesn't factor in the decomposition of organic materials, Etheridge said.

Sinkholes "just randomly open up," he said.

He told the city's finance committee that the department began talking with engineers on a long-term solution in the last year, "before we actually lose a vehicle. The fire engines are back there vibrating over flowing water, and if we get a sinkhole large enough to damage a fire engine, that would be very disastrous for this community."

http://www.adn.com/2014/02/14/3326581/juneau-sinkhole-threatens-fire.html


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yass
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yass
15-02-2014
BREAKING NEWS: Huge Sinkhole Appears in Hemel Hempstead

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A large sinkhole has suddenly appeared in a road in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire: 17 properties have reportedly been evacuated but there are no reports of any injuries.

Last week a smaller sinkhole appeared in the M2 motorway near Sittingbourne in Kent and a 30-foot crater appeared in a drive in St Albans earlier this month, swallowing a car which could not be recovered.

Posted Image

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/breaking-news-huge-sinkhole-appears-hemel-hempstead-1436568



'I was told everything was all right': Next-door neighbour to home on edge of huge sinkhole reveals housing association assured her the property was fine when her front porch sank six weeks ago

      • Carla Rance, 35, said she was ringing housing association daily in tears
• Gigantic crater in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, appeared at 7.30am
• 17 homeowners have been evacuated and one house is on its brink
• Neighbours and councillor claim two houses will have to be demolished
• Police: We are working with council, engineers and utilities companies
• There have been several sinkholes thanks to heavy rain battering UK
• Craters are caused when water ebbs away at soil creating unstable caverns
• Hertfordshire has a long history of chalk mining which could be a factor[/INDENT]

A woman living next-door to a gigantic sinkhole said she complained her house was sinking dangerously six weeks ago - but her housing association landlords told her 'everything was all right'.

Call centre worker Carla Rance, 35, had her entire porch demolished after it sank 'five or six inches' - but claimed her landlords only sent round specialist insurance assessors after she phoned her MP.

The 35ft wide sinkhole opened up in a suburban cul-de-sac in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, at 7.30am today, forcing 17 houses to be evacuated and leaving one teetering over a 20ft drop.

Two of the houses could have to be demolished.

Read more http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2560085/BREAKING-NEWS-House-left-teetering-brink-massive-sinkhole-35ft-wide-20ft-deep-opened-suburban-cul-sac.html


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