Whilst water is something that we all take for granted, using it every day to drink, wash, bathe, etc. the amount of force which water can exert is something that few of us understand, aside from being on the wrong end of a hose during a waterfight. The power of water to erode soil and undermine structures can result in dramatic, and unexpected, situations ranging from landslips or landslides, where the soil becomes saturated and flows under the force of gravity, through to the somewhat more scary sinkholes, where water erodes soil from under a surface or structure which them collapses into the void. Earlier today, in Bilgola, a sinkhole developed under a roadway. A NSW Fire & Rescue vehicle, which was on the roadway, slipped into the sinkhole, and was at risk of slipping or rolling further down the slope, threatening houses alongside the roadway. Luckily, sinkholes are a fairly rare occurrence, and are normally caused by failures of pipes carrying fresh or waste water, but when they do occur they are quite spectacular, with some consuming large areas of land. Examples of major sinkholes have occurred in Guatamala City, Guatamala. In 2007 a rupture of sewer pipes resulted in a sinkhole 20 metres wide and 70-100 metres deep which claimed 5 lives (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Guatemala_City_sinkhole). In 2010 another sinkhole 20 metres wide and 30 metres deep claimed 15 lives (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Guatemala_City_sinkhole). But sinkholes occur around the world (Guatamala is notable because of the size and frequency of occurrences), check out this collection of photos of other sinkholes around the world - theguardian/world/gallery/2010/jun/03/natural-disasters-guatemala
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 08:50:45 +0000
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