Am I the only one who doesn’t believe the bus fell into a sinkhole? (Liberty: live, yard)

[Independentthinking83]

That picture is incredible. It reminds me of the first ghostbusters movie when Gozar came and the roads opened swallowing the police cars.

[villageidiot1]

The picture reminds me of the ones they used to put in newspapers on April Fools' Day.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

then they didnt compact the fill well enough?


was anyone hurt?

its early, and i dont mean to start grabbing torches....but this is serious and lets see if there is culpability with the last road contractor who worked at that area of failure.

Sink holes are usually caused by water flow. I am guessing a broken sewer or water pipe. To get an 8' sink hole from a lack of compaction the road base would have to be hundreds of feed deep.

[wpipkins2]

When Penn, Liberty and Fifth avenue was reconstructed in the 1990's I noticed the there are tunnels beneath the streets. There are steam pipes, electrical utilities and sewage lines under there. A ruptured water line could have weakened the infrastructure beneath.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Not having a picture or video link to see I'll opine, as someone who has dealt with a sinkhole or six, that if the road had been cut out in a square at some point that the pavement, which is weakened by that cut, would fall away in that shape following the cut lines..

It’s really amazing to see the pictures. It is a perfect square.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

It’s really amazing to see the pictures. It is a perfect square.

Yeah, I finally looked. When you look at it you can see that the asphalt has been cut with an asphalt saw.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Yeah, I finally looked. When you look at it you can see that the asphalt has been cut with an asphalt saw.

Lack of fill? Is that on a contractor?

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

Lack of fill? Is that on a contractor?

How could there be a lack of fill? Did the road float on air for all these years.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by guy2073

How could there be a lack of fill? Did the road float on air for all these years.

If you read the thread you will see other posters talked of roadwork in that area being completed within the last year. As a result I was asking could there be a lack of fill.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

If you read the thread you will see other posters talked of roadwork in that area being completed within the last year. As a result I was asking could there be a lack of fill.

Maybe, but improperly compacted fill would just compress and not disappear (if you've ever filled a large hole in your yard you'll see what I mean if you didn't compact it and the fill settled over the next couple years, you'll have a depression in the yard).

More likely is that there's a water leak somewhere, it doesn't matter if it's from a water main, sewer line or stormwater pipe, that water-even a small flow- will wear away the fill in the hole over time and carry it away.