Sinkholes

[waltky]

Another sinkhole swallows a man...

Illinois golfer plunges down sinkhole on the 14th
13 March 2013 - An Illinois man has survived an 18ft (5.4m) fall inside a sinkhole while he was golfing, two weeks after another sinkhole swallowed a person in Florida.

Mark Mihal, 43, was investigating an unusual depression when the earth gave way on the 14th hole of the fairway in Waterloo, Illinois. Friends managed to bring the mortgage broker to safety with a rope, and he escaped with only a sore shoulder.

Mark Mihal's golf partners rescue him from the 18ft-deep sinkhole with a rope

Mr Mihal said he felt lucky to survive the "absolutely crazy" accident. "It didn't look unstable,'' Mr Mihal said of the slump in the ground, which exposed a 10ft-wide sinkhole once he stood on it. "And then I was gone. "I was just freefalling. It felt like forever, but it was just a second or two, and I didn't know what I was going to hit. And all I saw was darkness.''

Such holes are common in south-western Illinois, where old underground mines frequently cause the earth to cave in. According to Sam Panno, a senior geochemist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, there are as many as 15,000 sinkholes in the region. Florida man Jeffrey Bush, 36, is presumed dead after a sinkhole swallowed his bedroom near Tampa this month.

BBC News - Illinois golfer plunges down sinkhole on the 14th

 

[skookerasbil]

friggin global warming is wreacking its havoc underground now!!!


If we're all lucky, one will form on Pennsylvania Avenue in DC.

 

[waltky]

Sinkhole in Italy swallows 20 cars...

Cars swallowed by sinkhole near Florence's famous Ponte Vecchio bridge
25/05/2016 | An underground water mains break along Florence's picturesque Arno River has created a 200-metre-long sinkhole that buried dozens of parked cars.

Firefighters asked residents of nearby palazzi to evacuate voluntarily, as there was no water or lighting in the area.

Hours after the pre-dawn break, authorities were trying to determine on Wednesday whether the weakened asphalt could withstand the weight of a crane to extract the waterlogged cars that fell into the hole.

Cars are engulfed by a chasm which opened along the Arno river near the Ponte Vecchio Old Bridge, seen in the background right, in Florence, Italy.​

Mayor Dario Nardella stressed that the underground flooding was the result of a gash in a diameter pipe, one of the major water conduits in the neighbourhood, and not a leak in the banks of the Arno.

The scene is near the famed Ponte Vecchio bridge, a favourite spot for tourists shopping for jewellery.

Cars swallowed by sinkhole near Florence's famous Ponte Vecchio bridge - Independent.ie

 

[Wuwei]

Sinkholes are common in Florida because a lot of the ground water is pumped out.

 

[waltky]

Big ol' sinkhole in Canada...

Ottawa Sinkhole Day 2: Boil water advisory for some Rideau buildings; road closures still in place
June 9, 2016 - The city has issued a “precautionary boil water” advisory for three Rideau Street businesses as it continues to assess and repair the damage from the enormous sinkhole that opened up Wednesday morning.

The boil water advisory affects the Chapters/Starbucks location at 47 Rideau St., Holtz Spa next door at 45 Rideau and the CIBC building at 41 Rideau. In a briefing to reporters, Mayor Jim Watson and other city officials said the cave in measures 40 metres long, 28 metres wide and up to five metres deep. Crews have been dumping concrete in since Wednesday night to stabilize the hole. More than 2,700 cubic metres of concrete have already been poured into the hole, entombing a van that had toppled in Wednesday as well as some other construction equipment that couldn’t be safely removed.

The cause of the sinkhole is still unknown, but the city said the damage did not affect the adjacent Rideau station LRT tunnel under construction. Hydro service has been restored and in a 4 p.m. update on its website, the city said gas service had been restored as well. The ruptured gas line had left many businesses, including the nearby Chateau Laurier hotel, without hot water. An OC Transpo bus carrying 40 to 50 people had passed over the site minutes before the collapse, which occurred at about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Roads are still closed in the area, including the normally busy intersection of Rideau and Sussex. Watson said it could be “two to three” weeks before bus service resumes on Rideau Street. The road was already closed to all traffic except for buses and taxis. Buses have been rerouted onto the Mackenzie King Bridge. The sinkhole meant more bad news Thursday for some businesses in the Rideau Centre. A little after 9 a.m. an official from Ottawa Public Health arrived and ordered small restaurants in the Rideau Centre to close because their water may be contaminated. “It’s very difficult,” said Umut Ozerkan who owns Michel’s Bakery Café. He said the loss from closing Wednesday and Thursday will cost him $5,000 to $6,000.

The bakery counter was loaded at the time with croissants, salads and sandwiches. Pots of coffee were full. “Ninety per cent of the pastry is going to go to the garbage” he said. Salads and sandwiches were headed for the garbage too. And he hasn’t been told whether he can reopen Friday. “Our rents are very high here,” and one bad day can make or break a full month’s business, he said. The owner of Jimmy the Greek, who would only give his first name, Kourosh, had been working since 7 a.m. cooking rice, potatoes, chicken and vegetables. He estimates closing for the day costs him up to $6,000 in gross sales on top of the same loss Wednesday. "There was no warning, Kourosh said. “We prepare everything and suddenly they tell me I can’t sell it.” Inside the Rideau Centre there was construction noise and a flow of workers in fluorescent vests, but few shoppers even though stores are open.

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Tourists, transit users and businesses impacted by downtown Ottawa sinkhole
June 9, 2016 - Stores in the Rideau Centre were back in business today but the food court was suddenly shut down after Ottawa Public Health issued a precautionary boil water advisory. The impact of the sinkhole along Rideau Street was rippling through the downtown core; many of the businesses along Rideau between Sussex and Dalhousie, affecting buses and tourists, too.

Pictures of a giant sinkhole aren't quite the photos Nick and Ann Beeden of Derbyshire, England expected to take on their holiday to Ottawa. “It was a bit of a surprise,” says Ann, as her husband Nick captures the moment on camera, “a bit of a surprise, indeed.” They are staying at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, which was without hot water yesterday and much of today because of that gas leak. “All the facilities we normally expect in 5-star hotel are gone,” says Nick, “but it's not their fault. “We have a full house,” says Deneen Perrin, the Director of Public Relations at the Fairmount Chateau Laurier, “with no gas, no hot water, that impacts guests but they've been understanding.”

At the Rideau Centre today, a precautionary boil water advisory, issued by Ottawa Public Health, shut down the food court, though shops were open. Several other adjacent businesses were affected as well, including the CIBC, the Holtz Spa and the Chapters and Starbucks on Rideau. At the Metropolitan Brasserie on Sussex, kitty corner from the sinkhole, no natural gas meant no cooking and consequently, no customers. It also meant a big financial hit. “We've been closed for over 24 hours,” says the Metropolitan’s Sarah Chown, “we are hoping to get our doors open in the next few hours. They are working on getting our gas set up so we are hoping to recover our dinner service tonight.” The natural gas was expected to be restored by late afternoon as worked continued to fill this hole. It's estimated it will take a week or two to fill it.

That will mean continued road closures and bus diversions for a while. Those buses normally on Rideau are now crossing the Mackenzie King Bridge. Stephen Blais is an Ottawa Councillor and chair of the Ottawa Transit Commission, “There are 28-hundred buses on the Mackenzie King bridge each and every day so hundreds of buses more have moved from Rideau to the Mac bridge.” The bridge is open to automobiles, explains Blais, but on an intermittent basis over the coming days, depending on the flow of the buses. For motorists, the disruptions seemed to cause only minor issues in rush hour this morning. “It's been taking a while to get just from here to there,” explained one driver, “it’s been a bit of a challenge.”

A challenge, too, for transit users who faced some confusion over which bus to catch and where. Fare inspectors were stationed on the bridge to help them. “It’s a little confusing,” says transit passenger Aaron Gideon, “I'm going to Gatineau so I’m uncertain where my bus is. But they've helped me out,” he says, referring to the fare inspectors. Still, it will be a story for the family when Ann and Nick Beeden return home to England. “It adds to the adventure,” laughs Ann.

Tourists, transit users and businesses impacted by downtown Ottawa sinkhole

 

[IsaacNewton]

Massive sinkhole opens near subway station in Japan

This is what happens when you hire George Costanza. "Jerry, you know I've always wanted to pretend to be an architect."

 

[IsaacNewton]

I remember this one. What are the odds the thing is directly under the Corvette museum.