Driver is in a bit of a hole

[Fritzo]

So, how's your day going?

This happened about a mile from my work:

TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) -
A woman had to be rescued after a sinkhole swallowed up her car on Detroit Avenue Wednesday afternoon.

A water main break caused a sinkhole to open at a popular Toledo intersection. A car fell in, but the driver made it out alive. The intersection of Detroit and Bancroft closed, along with several side streets nearby.

Police say 60-year-old Pamela Knox was driving southbound on Detroit Avenue around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday when her vehicle fell into a large sinkhole. Toledo Fire crews helped Knox out of the hole before transporting her to an area hospital.

The intersections of Monroe and Detroit, Bancroft and Detroit, Detroit and Horace, Bancroft and Forrest and Bancroft and Sylvania are all closed. Police say the intersections will remain closed for "an extended period of time."

Fire crews at the scene say the hole is about 20 feet deep, but could grow. Crews had to use a crane to pull Knox's 2010 Chevrolet Malibu from the sinkhole.

My best line: HOLY TOLEDO!

 

[lxskllr]

What's more interesting is the brick road base. I like brick roads.

 

[Newbian]

Detroit Avenue

I guess even naming a road after detroit will turn it into a shithole.

Also interesting brick road layer.

 

[Fritzo]

I guess even naming a road after detroit will turn it into a shithole.

Also interesting brick road layer.

The streets in that area go back to the 1800s and they just paved over it.

 

[brianmanahan]

holy crap, detroit and bancroft? i used to drive get off 75 there every day!

 

[Fritzo]

holy crap, detroit and bancroft? i used to drive get off 75 there every day!

Good thing it wasn't today

 

[IronWing]

That has to be a bit disorienting. The water main break is a nice touch.

 

[kranky]

Nice landing, though.

 

[Alienwho]

Why do we pave over these awesome brick roads with asphalt? Drives me crazy.

 

[Newbian]

Why do we pave over these awesome brick roads with asphalt? Drives me crazy.

Costs a lot more to maintain them not to mention you can't drive as fast on them.

 

[MontyAC]

The driver was lucky the car didn't go in head first.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

lol, China.

 

[BUTCH1]

Poor woman, probably scared the living shit out of her and now her insurance co. will try and call it an "act of god" and chump out on fixing her car..

 

[Ruptga]

Wow that sucks, her car has to be totaled after that.

 

[phucheneh]

How does a water main leak cause an underground cavern? I mean, I understand the whole 'erosion' thing...but 'water main' seems like the go-to excuse for 'terrible shit infrastructure.' Maybe the water main broke...because a car fell through it. :hmm:

 

[Ruptga]

How does a water main leak cause an underground cavern? I mean, I understand the whole 'erosion' thing...but 'water main' seems like the go-to excuse for 'terrible shit infrastructure.' Maybe the water main broke...because a car fell through it. :hmm:

Aside from the obvious "water directly washing material away," water will saturate the soil, dissolving stuff and carrying it away. That does form caverns over time, especially when it is a break on a main. Mains carry a ton of water at a ton of pressure, it doesn't take that long for them to do real damage.

 

[BUTCH1]

How does a water main leak cause an underground cavern? I mean, I understand the whole 'erosion' thing...but 'water main' seems like the go-to excuse for 'terrible shit infrastructure.' Maybe the water main broke...because a car fell through it. :hmm:

Possible it was leaking for some time and caused the cavern underneath to form gradually, this person was just at the wrong spot at the wrong time..

 

[skyking]

How does a water main leak cause an underground cavern? I mean, I understand the whole 'erosion' thing...but 'water main' seems like the go-to excuse for 'terrible shit infrastructure.' Maybe the water main broke...because a car fell through it. :hmm:

It is a common occurrence. Once soils are disturbed, even using best practices we achieve 96~97% compaction at best.
3~4% is a lot of wiggle room. The water moves "fines" relentlessly and over long distances with that much pressure and volume.

 

[mizzou]

i don't know if htat qualifies as a "sink hole"?


in conclusion, take those water main breaks seriously. it may look like nothing but you never know how bad it is underneath

 

[phucheneh]

My questions were mainly: If it's a major leak, you'd think it would get fixed relatively quickly, no? And secondly...where does the dirt go?

Just seems like that kind of massive cavern would take many years to make. And would be the result of an already-sketchy road (i.e. there was already a void beneath it).

 

[WelshBloke]

The streets in that area go back to the 1800s and they just paved over it.

Its all pretty thin though. Looks like about an inch of asphalt, a layer of bricks, thin layer of substrate and then just dirt.

That seems a bit inadequate for a fairly big road.

 

[JoetheLion]

Well, it's obvious that somebody was playing Magic: The Gathering and she just ran into that duel! Here's the proof!

 

[ViRGE]

Wowsers. Whenever you have a sinking feeling, it may not just be in your head after all.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Woah that's crazy. Also neat to see the brick layer. lol at the water main break. Right over the car LOL. Lot of our roads are brick here, I wish they were ALL brick. They arn't as rough to drive on I find.

 

[lxskllr]

Its all pretty thin though. Looks like about an inch of asphalt, a layer of bricks, thin layer of substrate and then just dirt.

That seems a bit inadequate for a fairly big road.

It is pretty thin for road. The asphalt overlay is surprising. It looks like it was either only recently overlaid, or they've milled it, and resurfaced it keeping the brick. Sometimes crappy roads hold together pretty well if Eris is smiling on you. I've seen very major roads that had hardly any base, but still held up well. They looked like temporary road that never got properly fixed.