City of Vancouver sues over failed shoring

The site for the new Harrison County Hospital, approximately 25-miles west of Louisville, Kentucky had 15 sinkholes formed by limestone dissolution, a geomorphologic process referred to as Karst topography.  There were a number of geotechnical engineering and geological engineering challenges associated with the characterization, excavation, backfilling, foundation engineering and other mitigation measures as described by Peggy Hagerty Duffy, P.E. in her article entitled “Karst and Complications” in the August 2008 issue of Civil Engineering Magazine (Duffy, 2008b).

Mitigation measures for the sinkholes included use of graded filters with geotextiles, careful inspection of rock socket foundations along with pilot holes and careful geotechnical inspection throughout the construction process. One particularly interesting aspect of the project is that several of the sinkholes were used as drainage facilities to receive surface water runoff. Read on for a summary of this interesting article. (Photo of sinkhole in Karst Topography being used as a drainage feature, from Duffy (2008b), Civil Engineering Magazine)

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A colleague of mine (thanks Jamie!) sent me an email with this intriguing title. I have no idea where it originated, but it is an interesting compilation of some amazing photos and short descriptions of various natural and man-made "holes". A few sinkholes, glory holes, and of course open pit mines. By the way I didn’t write (or edit) this, just some minor formatting updates. Check it out. 

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The Florida Geological Survey probably deals with more sinkholes than most agencies. The most frequent geologic cause of sinkholes is dissolution of limestone and other soluble rocks and the collapse of the soil cover over […]