A sinkhole formed at the beginning of August near a brine production operation in Bayou Corne near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The sinkhole, now referred to as a slurry hole, measures roughly 600 ft by 300 ft. Officials are speculating that one of Texas Brine, LLC’s salt caverns may have failed causing the sinkhole to form above it, however there is no definitive cause yet. An exploratory hole is being drilled to attempt to penetrate the salt cavern to determine its status. Water samples are being tested for salinity to compare values to natural occurring water chemistry. The collapse of the sinkhole was preceded by a period of several months of tremors and natural gas bubbling from area bayous and water wells. [Source: The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA. Image: Assumption Parish Police Jury]
Related Articles
More Trouble for Bertha TBM, Sinkhole, Tunneling Suspended
Huge Florida sinkhole forces authorities to demolish two homes
City of Vancouver sues over failed shoring
The City of Vancouver is suing a developer, excavation contractor and their consulting engineer for the costs of repairs, overtime for city employees and lost revenue from parking meters etc stemming from an apparent failure of a shoring system that formed a 30-meter sinkhole. No mention of the developer’s name or the engineer, but the contractor was Matcon Excavation and Shoring. The site will be the future home of high-rise condominiums…if the City lifts it’s stop work order.
The failure of the shoring caused a break inf a 20-cm water main ultimately flooding the site. It also necessitated the closure of the adjacent street. Of course this invites the whole chicken or the egg scenario. The defendants will probably argue that the water line failed first causing the failure of the shoring, but of course the City Engineer, Tom Timm was not shy about fingering the shoring as being deficient.
"It’s some kind of a failure of the shoring system . . . either a design issue or the way it was put in place."