Sinkholes: will a sinkhole swallow YOUR neighborhood?

[txlibdem]

Guatemala Sinkhole, 2010
Photograph by Daniel LeClair, Reuters

Heavy rains from tropical storm Agatha likely triggered the collapse of a huge sinkhole in Guatemala on Sunday, seen above a few days afterward.

In the strictly geologic use of the word, a sinkhole happens when water erodes solid bedrock, carving an underground cavity that can then collapse. Many parts of the United States are at risk for that type of event.

The Guatemala sinkhole fits into a broader use of the term, which refers to any sudden slump of the ground's surface. Instead of solid bedrock, much of Guatemala City rests atop a layer of loose, gravelly volcanic pumice that is hundreds of feet thick. And at least one geologist says leaking pipes—not nature—created the recent sinkhole.

Overall, the risk for repeat sinkholes in Guatemala City is high—but highly unpredictable.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/photogalleries/100604-sinkhole-pictures-around-the-world-guatemala-city/
(see more pics of the Guatemala sinkhole at this link as well as others around the world)

What I find strange is that this sinkhole is a perfect circle!

Report: 72 percent of sinkhole claims in Tampa Bay counties
By Keith Morelli Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Publication: Tampa Tribune (Florida)
Date: Tuesday, November 9 2010

...the number of sinkhole claims between 2006 and 2010 has "risen exponentially."

The news wasn't a surprise for the insurance industry. Sinkhole claims doubled for the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. between 2005 and 2009.

In 2006, there were 2,360 sinkhole claims filed in Florida, he told the cabinet.

"In 2009 -- the last full year for which we have data, there were 7,244 sinkhole claims," McCarty said. "Basically, the number of sinkhole claims has tripled in only three years. Projections based on data we have already received for 2010 show this number is still increasing.

"We expect roughly 9,000 to 10,000 sinkhole claims to eventually be filed in 2010," he said.

http://www.allbusiness.com/insurance/insurance-regulation-policy-insurance-regulatory/15278160-1.html

But that's just in Florida. There won't be any sinkholes in other states, right? ... Um....

DAISETTA, Texas -- A Liberty County highway was closed Wednesday afternoon because of a massive sinkhole that gobbled up everything in its path, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Slideshow: Massive Sinkhole Expands To 400 Yards The sinkhole, which is 400 yards wide and an eighth of a mile long, is located in a rural area near Highway 770, just north of Daisetta.

Officials said they expect the hole to expand into the highway, so traffic was rerouted in the area. Sky 2 flew over the area and showed several tanks, construction equipment and trees fall into the expanding hole. At least one light pole was knocked over."The hole is getting bigger. It's working its way toward the highway. We have cracks all the way up to Highway 770," said Chief Les Hulsey of the Daisetta Police Department. Hulsey said that so far, the sinkhole is not a danger to the public."We only have one pipeline we're watching, but it appears it's going to be a liquid line and not a gas line, so it's going to have oil condensation in it. We don't really see any danger in that," he said.Oil gathered at the bottom of the sinkhole.The property was described as a disposal well."They inject salt water when they're drilling oil wells in the area. They store the salt water and inject it back into the ground," Hulsey said. "That well is still pressured up and holding pressure. The sinkhole hasn't affected it."The sinkhole started shortly before 10 a.m.No injuries were reported.

http://forums.s2kca.com/showthread.php?t=23394

Charlotte Motor Speedway has developed a giant sinkhole in its infield, but the track reports that it will be all fixed by the time the Bank of America 500 runs. The sinkhole is 35 feet deep and 75 feet long, and as you can see from the photo, is a large rectangular hole. Evidently Charlotte Motor Speedway was built over a landfill, which can be unstable, and the track says that a 30-year-old drain pipe had ceased to function, all of which caused the sinkhole. They are fixing the pipe and re-filling the hole in plenty of time for the races.

http://www.current-movie-reviews.com/sports/2010/10/06/charlotte-motor-speedway-sinkhole-not-a-problem-for-bank-of-america-500/

As we continue to deplete water tables across the nation, how many more sinkholes will we be faced with? With the aging infrastructure, how many more sinkholes like the one in Charlotte, NC will be man-made sinkholes?

[Odin2005]

1. Fargo is on top of hard Cretaceous sediment and Precambrian greenbelts, so no.

[happyslug]

6. Pittsburgh to Johnstown and the rest of Western PA, sinkholes all the time,

Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and of course West Virginia is heavily undermined. Sinkholes every so often, but most homes are "protected" generally do to local building requirements that requires reinforced basements and footers.

My father liked to tell of the Beadling Pa Soccer game in the 1950s, where a player was moving the ball, had it under complete control, then the ball of free and the player was no where to be found. He had fell into a sinkhole in the middle of the field, it opened up and down the player went. The ball was still "live" and an official ran over to make sure the player was all right, but the game was never stopped.

Beadling Sportsman's club ran the soccer team for decades, then in the 1970s sold off the playing field to Upper St Clair Township to be a township owned Soccer Field (at the same time the club sold off its practice field which had been right by the club AND the hillside behind the club and the Field. The Developer then filled in the Practice Field so he would have a relatively flat road access to the area behind the club house for the housing development he was building (According to the official Beadling Soccer Club web page it was the mine's former Machine Shop, but I was told by old timers that it was the old lime Shack, could have been both, first a machine Shop then as the mine closed down was used as a lime Shack).

Yes, the club ended up with a lot of money and used some of the money on its sport team and some on the Club House. They ruined the club house, the old club house had character, made of the bricks commonly used in Pittsburgh in the late 1800s (Mentioned by O Henry in one of his short stories, the mention was NOT complimentary and I suspect the story killed the use of that type of Brick, it was a real crappy brick), The brick had been painted sometime in the distant paste (Maybe in the late 1800s when it was the Lime shed for the Coal Mine operating in the area, or just may be the nature of that real crappy brick), At least two stories high with a study roof over the remaining two stories (and this was one HUGE building, you could fit a modern full size basketball court it is, without the stands, maybe with the stands, it has been decades since I was in the building), as you entered on to the left side of the building was the oak bar, Rectangle in shape, you could fit 10 men on the left and right and another 5-6 men on the far and near sides, without them touching each other (yes it was a big bar, but in that building it looked small even to me when I was in grade-school (I remember it to this day it was a huge bar but looked small in that huge building), above the entrance, near where the Second Floor would be, if it had a second floor and it did not, was a huge furnace, blowing hot air in winter in the direction of the bar (With the bricks in that building, it was NEVER hot in the summer so no Air Conditioning was present), The Club had divided the building at the entrance so the bar and the Furnace was on the "Small Side" of the building and on the opposite side of the wall the club has installed was a slightly larger room for big events (Weddings Parties, club meetings, Christmas parties etc).

What did the Beadling Sportsmen club do to this building? For the first time ever they had money and they installed WALLS and a LOW CEILING. White walls instead of Crappy Brick walls. Actual heating ducts, instead of the Furnace half way to the roof. Florescent lights installed in the new low ceiling instead of of lights hanging down form the roof two floors up. It looked like any other post 1960 bar I have been in, worse they extended the roof and built a Spanish like brick (out of Good Looking bricks) walkway/poach. Blane, lost its whole character of being a lime shack. When they once with my Father after the conversion, never went back.

Yes, I like my bars, Clean, sanitary, oak/wood and minimal lights. That is the type of bar my Father took me to when I was a baby, a grade Schooler and even a High Schooler. This 1960 modern crap is for Hospitals NOT bars.

Sorry, but the Beadling Club has a special place in my youth and the story of the sinkhole just brought it back.

Beadling Club Official Web Site:
http://www.beadling.com/100yearshistory.

I do NOT know the exact relationship between the Beadling Sports Club and the Beadling Soccer Club, but the Sports Club is still using and located at its traditional address of 675 Painters Run Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15228, [phone]. While the Soccer Club is using a Bridgeville Address, Beadling Soccer Club, P.O. BOX 435, Bridgeville, PA 15017.

I know that when the practice field was sold in the 1970s and the regular field was transferred to Upper St Clair ownership about the same time period, the Soccer team was told by Upper St Clair Township that they would no longer have first option for the field, but would be treated like any other applicate for the field. This was no problem for the Club, for the field needed work, but may have started a division between the Sports Club and the Soccer team, I do not know, my contact was minimal (Via my father who was a Social Member of the Sports Club, joined for it was on his Letter Carrier Route of the 1960s and 1970s).

[Kaleva]

2. Has anyone pissed in that sinkhole in Guatemala yet?

Seems like that be the thing to do. At least, that's the first thing I thought of when I first saw the pics of the sinkhole.

[txlibdem]

3. Hey look! It's our new landfill...

Turning lemons into lemonade.

[Kaleva]

4. Put an outhouse over it.

Wouldn't have to dig a new hole for maybe hundreds of years.

[txlibdem]

5. :-) That is just so wrong

for so many reasons.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Nihil]

7. Oh well played!

:spray: :rofl: :applause: