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Denver sinkhole

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When they're caused by a ruptured water line, it seems less like a "sinkhole" and more like utility failure. As a geologist, that is. . . . .

f-d

¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!
 
Karst or water main, the commuters were certainly sunk by the hole. ;-)
 
However, one is 99.5% preventable while the other is...well...more an act of God. I doubt the commuters made any distinction at the time of sitting on the highway for hours at a time. I feel that quite often sitting in the ATL traffic...I'd much rather take my chances with the karst of northwest Georgia when the traffic is reasonable.
 
The karst sinkholes might only be 99.5% act of God. The remaining 0.5% could be when man's actions hasten the occurrence of a karst sinkhole. In Florida, there have been several occasions when a freeze was predicted and the farmers started spraying water on their fruit to protect it. With all the groundwater drawdown, a sink hole appeared. There's also the big one that Hayward-Baker had on its advertisements. That one opened up in a gypsum stack at a phosphate processing plant in central FL. It maybe, just maybe, could have something to do with very low pH water seeping into limestone under >100 feet of head. [nosmiley]
 
huh...interesting twist to my comment...
 
Looks like a great big pothole to me.
 
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