Sinkholes!
By: Hunter Wilson, Matthew Melia
What Causes Sinkholes?
Sinkholes form when caves near Earth's surface collapse. When groundwater seeps through, it takes away minerals and pieces of rock. Slowly over time it forms a cave. The cave is normally full of water, but in times of drought the water level drops. When it rains the ground becomes heavy on the weak rock, and it collapses.
What are potential solutions for sinkholes?
There are two solutions which are Compaction Grouting and Underpinning. Compaction Grouting is performed by injecting grout under pressure through a steel casing into the ground immediately around and below the affected structure. Grout injected below the ground surface fills voids, cavities, and soft zones within limestone. The process of grout injection also serves to stabilize the sediment above the underlying limestone surface by compression and compaction. Underpinning is a technique utilized to repair structures that exhibit major distress. The process of underpinning forces thick walled steel pipes, commonly referred to as Pin Piles, vertically into the ground surface using the weight of the structure as the reaction mass. The Pin Piles are hydraulically advanced until downward force results in structural lift. The Pin Piles are then welded to a bracket that is attached to the foundation of the structure. Underpinning transfers the weight of the structure from unstable surficial soils to stable sub-surface materials.
Lake Windsor Middle School Sinks!
Paul Fishers Middle School Collapsed because of a sinkhole. There school is completely destroyed and they are forced to go somewhere else. Most of them are going to Tangerine Middle now. "I stood there, trying to think of a comeback, when I heard a whooshing sound, like the sound you get when you open a vacuum-sealed can of peanuts."
Towns destroyed!
Buildings can collapse due to sinkholes and even destroy entire towns. They are very dangerous and deadly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Randazzo, Anthony. "Geohazards solutions for sinkholes." http://www.sinkholes.com/sinkhole-remidation/. Anthony F. Rondazzo. Web. 15 Apr 2013
"Sinkhole Report." http://sinkhole.com/ . N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2013
"Netrekker search."
http://school.nettrekker.com/goExternal?np=/sections/external/web/external.ftl&pp=/sections/external/web/external.ftl&evlCode=393186&productName=school&al=Middle. N.p.. Web. 15 Apr 2013.
<http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/science_up_close/406/deploy/interface.html>.