Sinkhole

[gary]

We had a sinkhole appear in our yard a month ago. One night we come out and there is a 2' diameter hole that is 20' deep - yes twenty feet! The ground around it was depressed somewhat. The next day, the depressed area collapsed - I was standing on it the night before.

Over a month it grew into this.



The contractor came out to fix it yesterday. They took out the dirt until they found the crevice the dirt was escaping from; put in two truck loads of huge rock; laid filter fabric; then put in 2 truckloads of fist sized stone; then completely wrapped that stone with the filter fabric; then put back the dirt they removed; the added four more truckloads of dirt to replace what was lost.

Here is link to a slideshow showing the work as it progressed. We felt we had to get it treated to prevent any problem with the house.

The insurance agent said "ground movement is not covered". When I pointed out that I had an earthquake rider he said "ground movement is not covered under an earthquake policy". I guess if a ficus tree had fallen in the hole he would have covered it. As is, we're checking to see if we can deduct it as a casualty loss next year.

In summary; the final score is: SinkHole 1 vs Tool fund 0

[jonmulzer]

How old is your house?

[Ed62]

WOW!! I thought I had it bad when I had to have a new septic field put in. How long did it take them from start to finish?

Ed

[gary]

House is 22 years old

It took them 2 days to treat it.

[Mr__Bill]

Wow, that is some hole in the ground. Just think, you could of had an in groung swimming pool!

Two questions come to mind. Are they sure that the crevasse does not continue on and the sink hole will reappear along side this one? What is below that crevasse? Have you perhaps filled in the entrance to The Versailles Caverns?

You could have just built a shed over the hole and started accepting toxic waste for disposal.....

Bill, who is waiting for the next big one to slide this side of the state into the ocean

[Uncle Cracker]

Get used to it. With the kind of drought the SE has been experiencing, the ground will be moving around quite a bit. Atlanta is running out of water as Lake Lanier dries up.

[Pappy]

I get sinkholes all the time but the largest are about 2' in diameter. Black dirt is nice for planting but it shifts rapidly with the changes in the weather.

[jonmulzer]

20' is quite a stretch for a 320 Cat. He could not have had much chrome to spare on the boom cylinders. I spent quite a while running a 345 on deep sewer and at 28' laying 13' sticks of pipe I was about maxed out. If it had been any deeper he would have had to bench himself and then the damage to your yard would have gotten exponentially larger.

[footprintsinconc]

wow! that is amazing. fissures are really interesting. we some of the country's largest around here in tuscon. they appear literally over night and they spread like wild fires! glad to hear that your house is safe.

[Stytooner]

I've seen some of those before. Not where I live, but where my Mom's kin lives in north Tenn. Those are kinda scary. Sometimes they actually get filled with water and look like an innocent mudhole. That is when they are really dangerous.

Earthquake insurance that doesn't cover ground movement. So in effect, since an earth quake by shear definition is movement of earth, you are paying your money into a sink hole that gives nothing in return?

I have seen Hurricane insurance that doesn't cover wind damage or rain damage as well.

I'd like to know just who dreams this crap up?

Why don't they call it ficus tree theft, but not fire, collision or flooding of the tree insurance? That is because no one would by that rider. It is extremely confusing and you have to pull teeth from a rep that is selling the stuff to get to the fine print. That is if he or she is actually honest.

I am often amazed by what insurance companies call SOP and frequently get away with. Giving people a truely false sense of security in thinking they are paying for something that they aren't. I can't dwell on that alot though. It can lead to ahh.... depression.

[Hellrazor]

I've dealt with sinkholes at work, etc. They are a royal pain and expensive to fix. As far as insurance companies, they offer a sinkhole rider.

[Wood_workur]

thats pretty neat to see the process of the repair. I bet it must have sucked to have to pay for it, but still cool to watch.

So was the crevasse like a big air pocked, or did it go down further? I'm guessing the large stone keeps the little stone up which keeps the dirt up?

[gary]

We've don't know what was under the crevice, probably a cave or stream.

And yes it will suck to pay for it; I've not gotten the final bill yet.

[geopilot]

Gary-
I work at the geological survey at UK in Lexington. We have a research project on cover collapse sinkholes like yours. We are trying to predict where these are likely to occur. I'm sure the geologist doing this work would like to talk to you- shoot me a PM and let me know if he can call you.

[gjat]

Here in Florida, sinkholes are relatively common with the limestone sub-structures. I was surprised that gravel with geotech fabric was used to plug the hole. I would think that a cement grout mix would be used to cap it. Is it a difference in the soil properties (clay versus sand), a difference in technique (cost), or do you not want to cap it with an impervious material? Inquiring minds want to know.