Sinkholes
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Bizarro Earth

Huge sinkhole swallows backhoe in downtown Montreal

Montreal Sinkhole
© Christinne Muschi/ReutersA construction vehicle lies where it was swallowed by a sinkhole on Saint-Catherine Street in downtown Montreal, August 5, 2013.
A section of a downtown commercial street swallowed a backhoe on Monday as city crews were getting ready to repair a leaky water main.

The backhoe had started to chip at asphalt near the corner of Ste-Catherine and Guy streets when the ground crumbled beneath it and the heavy machine tumbled in.

The driver of the backhoe was not injured but was taken to hospital to be checked out as a precaution, city officials said.

Emilie Miskdjian, a spokeswoman for the Ville-Marie borough, said the city was alerted to the possible water leak on the weekend.

She said preliminary indications were that the leak caused the problem but more inspections needed to be done to find the exact cause.

Bizarro Earth

Car nearly falls in giant sinkhole in China

Sinkhole
© Orange.co.uk
A driver had a lucky escape in southern China when a giant sinkhole opened up just inches in front of his car.

The 20ft wide hole - more than 20ft deep - appeared in Nanning city just days after local TV and phone companies had laid new cables under the highway.

"One second the road was there, the next it was just a hole," said one witness.

"The driver managed to stop just in time just as one of his wheels was touching the edge," they added.

And a giant truck ahead of the motor was almost pulled into the hole when its rear wheels were caught in the other side.

A police spokesman said: "We are investigating the cause of the collapse."

Bizarro Earth

Large sinkhole discovered in Western Kansas

Sinkhole
© WIBW.com
Wichita -- Watch your step if you venture into Wallace County in western Kansas.

The Wallace County sheriff says a large sinkhole was discovered about a week ago eight miles north of Wallace.

They're waiting on experts to come out and examine the sinkhole. They have no idea what caused it, and no injuries have been reported.

Map

25-meter diameter sinkhole opens up in New Zealand

New Zealand sinkhole
© APNA sinkhole has appeared on the eastern wall of the backfilled Golden Cross open pit
A 'sinkhole' has opened up near 'old underground workings' at the moth-balled Golden Cross mine.

It is about 25m across, with slumped material falling into the quite large hole and is situated on the eastern wall of the previously backfilled Golden Cross open pit.

Hauraki District Council strategic planning project manager Mark Buttimore said the hole was first noticed in early June when a helicopter crew flew over the area doing unrelated work. They contacted Coeur Gold about the sinkhole.

Mr Buttimore said council had a meeting at the site of the slump with Environment Waikato and New Zealand engineering firm Tonkin & Taylor (working for Coeur Gold).

"Tonkin & Taylor are monitoring the area, they have monitoring points near the slump which appears to be above old underground stopes which might not have been completely filled when Coeur finished its mining at Golden Cross," Mr Buttimore said.

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Pastor plagued by third massive sinkhole on church property in Enid, Oklahoma

pastor sinkhole

Monday night's heavy rainfall resurrected an old and dangerous problem for the pastor of a local church.


Pastor Wesley Byrd says a sinkhole that was 6 feet deep, 10 feet wide and 21 feet long opened up in the parking lot of Bethel Baptist Church.

This marks the third sinkhole to appear on the property since October.

Byrd said, "I was concerned because we have children that walk by here all the time, going to the shopping center, whatever. Certainly didn't want any one of them falling in it."

The City of Enid hired S.L Madison Construction to fix a broken storm sewer running through the area, which was blamed for causing the problem.

Unfortunately, that decision came too late to prevent this sinkhole from forming.

Hardhat

Sinkhole swallows chunk of northeast Houston street

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© KHOUA 15 foot wide sinkhole opened up in east Houston on Tuesday afternoon. The sinkhole is located at 3600 Market Street, and it was big enough for a car to fall in.
Crews are working quickly to fill a large sinkhole in northeast Houston.

The sinkhole swallowed part of Market Street at Capron, not far from I-10.

It's looking to be a long night ahead in the Fifth Ward as crews work to make these repairs. They've got a large area taped off.

The city says the sinkhole was caused by a water main break.

Neighbors say they started calling Tuesday morning. Some noticed the dip several days ago and grew concerned a car would lose control. The final straw came Tuesday afternoon when a METRO bus hit the hole and it caved in.

Comment: The city says the sinkhole was caused by a water main break, but these so-called water main breaks have been quite a frequent occurrence around the world lately...

Sinkholes - A Sign of the Times?


Arrow Down

Another sinkhole opens in Philadelphia, exposes green fluorescent water under city!

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© MSN
You probably don't think about what's under the street much, but you might start to now. A sinkhole opened up in the middle of a Philadelphia street, and it was apparently full of this green ... stuff. What does this mean? Are secret tunnels below the streets pumping radioactive goo across the country for some nefarious purpose? No. As the Redditor who took this photo learned, this is actually a fluorescent dye. Cities add it to water in sinkholes to see where they go, and hopefully fix the problem that causes it. Still, nearby pizza restaurants should be on the lookout for a pack of giant talking turtles. Just in case. [Source]

Arrow Down

Massive sinkhole swallows entire intersection in Philadelphia!


Four families have not been able to return to their homes due to a giant sink hole caused by a water main break in South Philadelphia. It's at the middle of the intersection at 21st and Bainbridge. Crews say the sink hole is 15-feet deep.

"It's enormous," said flooding victim Marisa Block. "I heard sink hole and I was thinking something like three or four feet, nothing that big. It's the entire intersection!"

The 96-year-old, 48-inch transmission main broke at 9 p.m Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Water Department.

Crews worked through the night, where water flowed up to three feet high in some spots, as you can see in this NBC10 viewer photo.

On Monday, there was a gas leak at the same location, but authorities say it was quickly fixed.

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© NBC

Colosseum

Another sinkhole opens in Philadelphia, swallows car!


A sinkhole swallowed up the front end of a car on a street in Philadelphia's Hunting Park section early Tuesday morning.

The nose of the Pontiac Bonneville was sinking down below the street - its rear raised in the air. That was the sight neighbors were met with early this morning on the 3600 block of Marvine Street in Hunting Park.

Car owner Fran Leftenant woke up to an officer knocking on her door.

"I thought I had two missing tires, but it wasn't the case. My car was sinking," said Leftenant. "Right now I'm just sick."

She and other residents watched as the hole got deeper, and the lean on the car greater. A tow truck was called.
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Comment: Remember this from 4 years ago?

Or what about this one from last month?

Or this one from last week!


Bizarro Earth

Giant sinkhole in Shaanxi, China swallows cement truck

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A sinkhole in Xian, Shaanxi, on Saturday

A cement truck proved to be too much for a street section on Xian's outskirts on Saturday, causing a seven-metre-deep sinkhole and raising questions over construction safety in China.

In the early morning, a cement truck was swallowed by a sinkhole as it was on its way to its daytime deployment in northern China's Shaanxi province. No one was injured, and the driver was able to escape the vehicle. It took urban authorities until 10pm to remove the truck from the site.