Stunning video recorded by a local CBS affiliate captures the aftermath of a bus that was swallowed by a giant sink hole that opened up in downtown Pittsburgh during the Monday morning rush hour.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene after the entire back half of a Port Authority bus went into the ground at Penn Avenue and 10th Street just before 8am as the gaping hole opened up. A statement by the city's Port Authority indicated the bus "was stopped at a red light when the hole opened underneath it."
Only two people, including the diver, were on the bus when the sink hold opened up and both were able to escape, one with a minor injury — though initially authorities worried there may have been up to ten on the bus.
Other reports say tow trucks are on the scene. The incident is expected to create gridlock throughout the day in the downtown area.
We've noted many time before that no matter what your particular political perspective is, if there is one thing that virtually everyone in the United States can agree upon it is the fact that America’s infrastructure is crumbling.
Poster Comment:
America’s infrastructure is crumbling. We need to spend $4 trillion to fix and to modernize things.
#1: Lod To: Horse (#0)
Lod posted on 2019-10-29 11:52:41 Reply Private Reply
#2: Pinguinite To: Horse (#0)
Sinkholes are not an infrastructure issue. If there was a way to detect them and deal with them in advance, it could be, but there isn't so far as I know.
Pinguinite posted on 2019-10-29 13:38:30 Reply Private Reply
#3: Horse To: Pinguinite (#2)
Activities like drilling, mining, construction, broken water or drain pipes, improperly compacted soil after excavation work or even heavy traffic can result in small to large sinkholes. Water from broken pipe can penetrate through mud and rocks and erode the ground underneath and cause sinkholes.
Here are the 7 most common signs a sinkhole may appear:
A round circular depression in the earth: ...
Localized subsidence or depression anywhere on the property: ...
A circular lake (or a large, deep puddle): ...
A foundation settling: ...
Cracks in roads or pavement: ...
A sudden drop of well water levels on a site:
Horse posted on 2019-10-29 13:41:09 Reply Private Reply
#4: Pinguinite To: Horse (#3)
I don't doubt some method could be made to detect them with ground penetrating radar and such.
Pinguinite posted on 2019-10-29 13:45:14 Reply Private Reply
#5: Lod To: Pinguinite (#4)
If Mexican drug tunnels are detectable, why not sinkholes?
Lod posted on 2019-10-29 13:48:53 Reply Private Reply
#6: Horse To: Lod, Pinguinite, BTPHoldings (#5)
Horse posted on 2019-10-29 14:06:19 Reply Private Reply
#7: Esso To: Horse, 4um (#6)
You have my explicit permission to go ahead and start now.
Esso posted on 2019-10-29 15:28:56 Reply Private Reply
#8: ghostdogtxn To: Horse (#0)
ghostdogtxn posted on 2019-10-29 20:59:59 Reply Private Reply
#9: Horse To: Pinguinite (#4)
Horse posted on 2019-10-29 21:50:47 Reply Private Reply
#10: BTP Holdings To: Horse (#9)
That would be big trouble for most older sections of the country. Even San Francisco is older than 100 years.
In Chicago area the frost line can extend down to three feet or even more in colder winters. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2019-10-30 06:35:58 Reply Private Reply
#11: Horse To: BTP Holdings (#10)
Horse posted on 2019-10-30 10:00:41 Reply Private Reply
#12: BTP Holdings To: Horse (#11)
The City of Chicago was selling dried sewage sludge bagged up and labeled "Nu-Earth". They found out later it was contaminated with heavy metals such as Lead and Arsenic.
No idea how many hundreds of people put that in their gardens as soil amendments. No idea either how much of it was taken up by plants or passed along in their edible portions. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2019-10-30 20:18:15 Reply Private Reply
#13: Horse To: BTP Holdings (#12)
Horse posted on 2019-10-31 00:50:10 Reply Private Reply