Sinkholes
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Canada, Yellowknife: Sinkhole Growing at Giant Mine Site


CBC News
Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:42 UTC

Federal officials in Yellowknife are worried that a growing sinkhole at the former Giant Mine could result in water seeping into the site's underground arsenic chambers.

The sinkhole first appeared in May and is currently six square metres in size. It is located between Baker Creek and an open pit that is connected to the underground section of the mine.

As well, the depression is close to four underground chambers in which thousands of tonnes of arsenic trioxide - a toxic byproduct of gold production - are being stored.

Officials with the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development are concerned the sinkhole could make it easier for water from Baker Creek to seep into the arsenic chambers, should the creek flood again next spring.
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US, Iowa: Sinkhole Results in Street Closing


The Daily Nonpareil
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:13 UTC
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© Cindy ChristensenSouth 26th St. between 6th and 7th Avenues has been blocked off due to a large sink hole spanning the width of the street. The sink measured 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep on Thursday and was caused by the high water table causing the sewer to collapse.
Officials say a large sinkhole in Council Bluffs started as a dip in the road and just kept growing.

South 26th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues is now barricaded because of a giant sinkhole in the street caused by high water tables, a city spokesman said.

Cost to repair the sinkhole, which had grown to 50 feet long by 50 feet wide by late Friday, is $216,000, said Don Gross.

When water levels get higher than normal, underground pipes become surrounded by water, he said. If there are cracks or openings in the pipe, the water and soil material flowing in it will eventually create a "cavity" in the pipe and eventually the street surface will collapse.

It's hoped the repairs can begin next week, Gross said. MFT Construction has received the bid, he added.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Massive Lake County Sinkhole Continues To Swallow Building


WFTV
Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:50 UTC

Leesburg, Florida. -- A large sinkhole has been swallowing downtown Leesburg and many neighbors said they are concerned.

The sinkhole at Main and East streets has already gobbled up one business, and the damage is getting worse.

City leaders said the mess is in the hands of the landowner, and city officials said since it's only been a couple of weeks, they're not ready to issue any ultimatums.

Douglass Anderson has a good view of the sinkhole because it's just 50 paces from his Leesburg home.

"No. I don't think we've got to pull out. I think the thing is going that way," said Anderson, pointing away from his house.

The sinkhole opened at the corner of East and Main on June 27. "There's no indication that this hole has been growing," said Robert Sargent, Leesburg city spokesman.

Sargent said even though half the roof of Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply caved in, the width and depth of the pit remains the same. The sinkhole is 60 feet across and 20 feet down.
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US: Sinkhole opens up in road, Charlotte, North Carolina

Steve Lyttle
The Charlotte Observer
Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:03 UTC
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© DAVIE HINSHAW/charlotteobserver.comA DOT crew is on scene of a sinkhole that developed Friday morning on Sharon Road.
Police closed a south Charlotte intersection Friday morning after a sinkhole developed.

The sinkhole was on Sharon Road at the Wendover Road intersection. Motorists began reporting the problem shortly before 7 a.m., and authorities closed the intersection a short time later.

Inbound Sharon Road is open, but the outbound lanes are closed. In addition, there is no access to Sharon Road from Wendover Road.

Typically, these holes are caused by broken underground water lines that need repair. But it is unclear if that is the problem this time. State highway personnel arrived at the scene about 8:30 a.m.

Motorists should consider using Sharon Lane and Providence Road as alternate routes.
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Bizarro Earth

Guatemalan woman finds huge sinkhole under bed

James Meikle
The Guardian
Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:04 UTC
sinkhole
© Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty ImagesA man inspects the sinkhole in Guatemala City.
Sinkhole, 12m deep and 80cm in diameter, forms at Guatemala City home of 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez

You may sometimes wish the ground would swallow you up, but for some the danger of disappearing down a deep hole is all too real.

The people of Guatemala City are increasingly unable to trust what's beneath their feet because of treacherous sinkholes.

The latest person to get a shock was 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez. "When we heard the loud boom we thought a gas canister from a neighbouring home had exploded, or there had been a crash on the street.

"We rushed out to look and saw nothing. A gentleman told me that the noise came from my house, and we searched until we found it under my bed."

Comment: What was once an occasional incident has become a alarmingly regular occurrence - we're getting reports of sinkholes every other day now!

July 17: Tennessee, US: Sinkhole beside Spring Hill's new high school stirs speculation

July 14: Utah, US: Girl dies, father hurt in crash caused by sinkhole

July 14: Florida, US: Tarpon Springs homeowners wonder if homes will be swallowed by sinkhole

July 12: US: Lenoir, North Carolina sinkhole evidence of a possible wider problem

July 7: South Carolina, US: Sinkhole Closes Stephens County Boat Ramp

June 27: Australia: Enormous sinkhole swallows south-east Queensland Rainbow beach

A collection of sinkhole images from around the world

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Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: Gigantic Crack Opens Up In Mexico


Before It's News
Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:43 UTC
Mexico Crack
© Before It's News
The crack appeared on 13 July in Santa Maria Huejoculco in Chalco, State Mexico, land has now reached 500 meters long and authorities have not taken preventive measures, warned James Espinoza Hilario, responsible for Social planning on the Sierra Nevada project of the Autonomous Metropolitan University.

In addition, after survey work was detected in Santa Maria Huejoculco yet another gap of about four km which reached La Candelaria Tlapala, in the community of Miraflores, in Chalco, explained Professor Martín Espinosa.

These failures are part of a family of cracks that exist in the region and threaten to spread across the entire east area of the Valley of Mexico.

This event began back 2009 in a small area of this region but since it has grown and is eating up everything around it .

Comment: On top of all the sinkholes opening up, this crack in the ground in Mexico joins a list of fissures opening up all over the world:

June 30: US: St. Clair Crack Remains a Mystery

March 18: Everett, Washington: Land Crack Appears, Neighborhood is Sinking

March 7: Pakistan: Giant Fissure / Crack Opens in the Ground in Seagi Gulistan

February 25: Large Crack Opens in the Earth in Southern Peru

January 7: Large crack in the ground appears in the Michigan Upper Peninsula

October 6 2010: Mysterious crack still begs answers

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Utah, US: Girl dies, father hurt in crash caused by sinkhole


The Associated Press
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:29 UTC
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© Utah Highway PatrolAn image provided by the Utah Highway Patrol shows the wreckage of a car that ran into a sinkhole.
A 15-year-old girl died after heavy rains caused a huge sinkhole to open on a Utah highway, swallowing one vehicle and causing her father's SUV to careen off the road.

Authorities said the crash that killed Justine Barneck and injured her father, Michael Barneck, late Wednesday night happened when the road collapsed in front of them, leaving a patch of asphalt on the edge of the hole that the vehicle hit, causing the fatal accident.

At about the same time, a second car actually went into the 40-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep hole, said Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Johnson. The driver of that vehicle, 37-year-old Helen Paulson, was hurt, but the extent of her injuries was not immediately clear.
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Tennessee, US: Sinkhole beside Spring Hill's new high school stirs speculation


The Tennessean
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 04:43 UTC
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© Jill Cecil Wiersma / The TennesseanA sinkhole is under repair near Summit High School in Spring Hill. Crews discovered the 60-foot-long, 18-feet-wide,14-foot-deep hole earlier this week
Cause of huge hole at Summit unclear

As crews scurry to finish work on Spring Hill's $40 million Summit High School, workers have found a large sinkhole on one of its athletic fields.

Geotechnical engineers are searching for the cause of a 60-foot-long, 18-foot-wide and 14-foot-deep hole discovered earlier this week, said Director of Construction and Facilities Kevin Fortney.

Fortney described the large sinkhole to school board members Thursday night at their work session, joking that it was not part of the school's swimming program.
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No Entry

US, Colorado: Sink hole closes road in Longmont


The Longmont Times-Call
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:27 UTC
sinkhole Longmont
© Joshua Buck/Times-CallWeld County Sheriff Deputy Chad Walser talks with Longmont Emergency Unit crews and a firefighter from Mountain View Fire Rescue about closing Weld County Road 20 1/2 at Weld County Road 1 as a sinkhole grows Wednesday evening.
A 4-foot wide sinkhole in the roadway has forced emergency crews to close Weld County Road 20 1/2 between county roads 7 and 1.

A broken culvert has exposed a 15-foot by 15-foot cavern under the roadway and it is growing, officials on scene said as water gushed below. A Weld County Public Works crew left to pick up barricades in Johnstown and would return later this evening, Deputy Chad Walser said.

It was not known how long the road would be closed, but emergency crews on scene said they thought at least a week, as most of the area would have to be dug up.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Girl Dies, Father Hurt in Utah Road Collapse Crash


Huffington Post
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:10 UTC
Utah Sinkhole_1
© Rex OlsenThis is a picture of the car that landed in the sinkhole.
Tabiona - A teenage girl is dead and two people injured after a road collapsed, leaving a 40-foot wide gap in an eastern Utah highway.

The Utah Highway Patrol says heavy rainfall opened the hole more than 30 feet deep along State Highway 35 late Wednesday. It happened near Tabiona, a town about 80 miles east of Salt Lake City.

The highway patrol says 15-year-old Justine Barneck died after the SUV she was riding in crashed as it approached the hole a few minutes after the collapse. Her father, 59-year-old Michael Barneck, was injured in the accident.

Utah Sinkhole_2
© Kevin Ashbv / Vernal ExpressA home sits on the other side of a large sinkhole that was created from a heavy rainstorm washing out a culvert under state Road 35 in Tabiona Wednesday night.
The driver of a second car that plunged into the gap, 37-year-old Heidi Paulson, also was hurt.

The road remained closed Thursday. An investigation is under way.
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