Sinkhole causes resort villa to partially collapse (Fla.)

[Omaha Steve]

Last edited Mon Aug 12, 2013, 03:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP-Excite

By ALMA RODRIGUEZ

CLERMONT, Fla. (AP) - A sinkhole caused a section of a central Florida resort villa to partially collapse early Monday, while another section of the villa was sinking, authorities said.

About 30 percent of the three-story structure collapsed around 3 a.m. Monday, Lake County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Tony Cuellar said. The villa at the Summer Bay Resort had already been evacuated and no injuries were reported.

Cuellar said authorities were also concerned about another section of the villa, which was sinking.

The sinkhole, which is in the middle of the villa, is about 40 to 50 feet in diameter, Cuellar said. He said authorities think it was getting deeper but couldn't tell early Monday if it was growing outward.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130812/DA84BDR82.html

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A building at the Summer Bay Resort in Clermont, Fla, shows damage from collapsing into a sinkhole early Monday Aug. 12, 2013. No injuries or victims and all emergency responders were safe and uninjured. All guests that were rescued are being moved to a different building on the property. (AP Photo/Alma Rodriquez)

[raccoon]

1. I wonder how old this building was. What I'm getting to is, I wonder if muni gov'ts are issuing

building permits in places known or suspected to be unsafe.

Any civil engineering types here who know about this sort of thing? Can't testing reveal if there is a strong risk of a sinkhole
developing in a given location?


K&R

[theHandpuppet]

2. There are parts of Florida particularly susceptible to sinkholes

Here are some links:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/sinkhole.htm
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/galleries/sinkholes/
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/311250/3/Florida-sinkholes-where-is-the-greatest-risk

[Igel]

3. Much of the area is screwed, long term.

See the nice picture from China at http://www.geotimes.org/apr07/article.html?id=Travels0407.html or just google "china karst" and look at the images.

The tops of those very steep-sided hills were near the surface. The underlying rock was limestone. All rainwater contains a bit of carbonic acid (it's ultimately what makes soda acid and accounts for the fizz). Acid dissolves limestone, gradually, and washes it to the sea. At first you get cracks that widen. Then you start having channels. Caves. Then the caves start to collapse. Over time, what was a flat surface becomes a flat surface with deep holes in it, and at some point the perspective shifts so that the "surface" is now dozens or hundreds of yards lower with things sticking up out of it.

Now, in much of Florida, you have a surface and the underlying rock is limestone. All rainwater contains ...

Karst was first named in S. Austria and Slovenia. A lot of the world's surface is karst.


Yes, they can check these days for what's underground. Not always cheap, but it's not hard to do. Karst can be dissolved, so what was stable a hundred years ago may not be today. It's also porous. When it's saturated with water it's a bit more stable--for a while--than when the water's drained out of it. Droughts are hard on buildings sitting on karst.

[jakeXT]

4. Looks like they tested 15 years ago

He said that the resort was built about 15 years ago and had undergone geologic testing at the time, showing the ground to be stable. He said that before Sunday, there were no signs that a sinkhole was developing. He said all the affected guests had been given other rooms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/summer-bay-resort-sinking_n_3741856.html

[alp227]

5. Longer article by Orlando Sentinel

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-sinkhole-damage-disney-area-resort-20130812,0,6425562,full.story

[question everything]

6. Can you edit the title to add, in parenthesis, in Florida?

Thanks.

[AndyA]

7. Poor Florida: Republicans, hurricanes, and sinkholes.

Not good by themselves, but all three put together must be a sheer nightmare for people down there.

The thing about sinkholes is, you can test and everything looks OK, then a short time later, it suddenly isn't and the ground gives way. I've heard it depends on how much rain they get, and the farmers who suck massive amounts of water out of the ground to irrigate their fields cause problems by doing that as well.

Sending good thoughts to progressives in Florida...the conservatives and tea baggers...eh, yer on yer own.

[wordpix]

8. you forgot boa constrictors

http://www.fort.usgs.gov/FLConstrictors/

[Zorro]

9. Those are gonna be tough timeshares to trade