Post by jonsdigs on Oct 21, 2006 13:17:42 GMT -5
Boulders slowly fill sinkhole
Published Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Springfield News-Leader
Steve Steele of Steele Excavating dumps boulders into the Nixa sinkhole with a bulldozer. Steele said he expects his work to be done in about two weeks.
Photos:
www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DO&Dato=20060814&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=814002&Ref=PH
www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DO&Dato=20060926&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=926001&Ref=PH
The clank of steel tracks on hard stone is signaling the end of the Nixa sinkhole.
In mid-August, people living on Delaware Street in Nixa contended with crowds of curious sightseers wanting to glimpse the broken-backed house falling into a sinkhole.
Now, they can see and hear heavy equipment sorting and shifting limestone boulders into the hole.
Not that many people are paying attention.
Although Steve Steele said people have been watching the work, there wasn't anyone loitering along the fence cutting part of the street in half Tuesday afternoon as he ran a bulldozer up and down a slope cut into the sinkhole's side to make dumping boulders easier.
At times, the tracks clattered and spun on the stones, some of them six feet long and weighing more than two tons.
Steele expects the contract he and his son Jeremy have with the city to fill the sinkhole and remove what's left of Harold Scrivener's home will take about two weeks to finish.
"Soon as we get the rock up to the bottom of the house, we'll also take the house down," he said.
Big boulders in the 'dozer's bucket tended to make the back end bounce while going down the ramp, but the sinkhole floor seemed solid as the bulldozer rolled over it, he said.
The city likely will spend around $70,000 to deal with the sinkhole, City Administrator Brian Bingle said.
The contract the city has with Steele Excavating is for a base bid of $47,500.
The rest of the money was spent on other expenses ranging from fencing the sinkhole area to paying overtime to city employees who guarded the site, he said.
City officials originally estimated filling the sinkhole could cost $100,000.
But they opted for a way to fill the void that avoided the need to excavate soil from the hole, and Journagan Construction donated the rock needed to fill the hole.
While the city is having the work done to protect the public, city officials haven't yet discussed with Scrivener what to do with what's now an undevelopable lot, Bingle said.
And city officials haven't decided what to do with the lot if it becomes city property, he said. There's been talk of using the property for a park, but a decision hasn't been made.
It appears the empty house next door can be reoccupied once the sinkhole is filled, Bingle said. And once the sinkhole is filled, the security fence will be moved to the west side of the street, allowing the street to be used again.
The sinkhole won't be capped for perhaps six months, city consultant Gary Pendergrass said.
That will allow boulders and smaller rock going in the sinkhole to settle onto a layer of limestone and stabilize, he said.
Article:
www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS01/609270375
See Also:
news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS01/608140373
Published Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Springfield News-Leader
Steve Steele of Steele Excavating dumps boulders into the Nixa sinkhole with a bulldozer. Steele said he expects his work to be done in about two weeks.
Photos:
www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DO&Dato=20060814&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=814002&Ref=PH
www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DO&Dato=20060926&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=926001&Ref=PH
The clank of steel tracks on hard stone is signaling the end of the Nixa sinkhole.
In mid-August, people living on Delaware Street in Nixa contended with crowds of curious sightseers wanting to glimpse the broken-backed house falling into a sinkhole.
Now, they can see and hear heavy equipment sorting and shifting limestone boulders into the hole.
Not that many people are paying attention.
Although Steve Steele said people have been watching the work, there wasn't anyone loitering along the fence cutting part of the street in half Tuesday afternoon as he ran a bulldozer up and down a slope cut into the sinkhole's side to make dumping boulders easier.
At times, the tracks clattered and spun on the stones, some of them six feet long and weighing more than two tons.
Steele expects the contract he and his son Jeremy have with the city to fill the sinkhole and remove what's left of Harold Scrivener's home will take about two weeks to finish.
"Soon as we get the rock up to the bottom of the house, we'll also take the house down," he said.
Big boulders in the 'dozer's bucket tended to make the back end bounce while going down the ramp, but the sinkhole floor seemed solid as the bulldozer rolled over it, he said.
The city likely will spend around $70,000 to deal with the sinkhole, City Administrator Brian Bingle said.
The contract the city has with Steele Excavating is for a base bid of $47,500.
The rest of the money was spent on other expenses ranging from fencing the sinkhole area to paying overtime to city employees who guarded the site, he said.
City officials originally estimated filling the sinkhole could cost $100,000.
But they opted for a way to fill the void that avoided the need to excavate soil from the hole, and Journagan Construction donated the rock needed to fill the hole.
While the city is having the work done to protect the public, city officials haven't yet discussed with Scrivener what to do with what's now an undevelopable lot, Bingle said.
And city officials haven't decided what to do with the lot if it becomes city property, he said. There's been talk of using the property for a park, but a decision hasn't been made.
It appears the empty house next door can be reoccupied once the sinkhole is filled, Bingle said. And once the sinkhole is filled, the security fence will be moved to the west side of the street, allowing the street to be used again.
The sinkhole won't be capped for perhaps six months, city consultant Gary Pendergrass said.
That will allow boulders and smaller rock going in the sinkhole to settle onto a layer of limestone and stabilize, he said.
Article:
www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060927/NEWS01/609270375
See Also:
news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060814/NEWS01/608140373