Post by L Roebuck on Oct 24, 2006 10:29:17 GMT -5
Another day, another sinkhole
Route 772 hit for third time in a month
By Brett Hambright
Intelligencer Journal
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Sinkholes are not uncommon in Lancaster County, and motorists using Route 772 near Talmage are getting to know the nuisances firsthand.
For the third time in less than a month, a sinkhole opened Monday in the 300 block of South State Street (Route 772) in West Earl Township.
The hole was excavated, then filled with stone late Monday afternoon and will be paved today if weather permits, PennDOT spokesman Greg Penny said.
“It’s pretty sizable,” Penny said of the hole, which was about 14 feet long, 12 feet deep and 4 feet wide. “These things just crop up, and you have to deal with them as they appear. That’s what we are doing.”
Route 772 between Stoltzfus and Locust avenues will be closed until the sinkhole is patched, Penny said.
On Wednesday, work crews filled a sinkhole in the same block that had developed the day before. On Sept. 29, six sinkholes opened in the area, halting water service for 33 homes nearby.
Penny said the repaired holes have remained closed. The one found Monday is just east of where the others formed.
Dr. R. Ramana, a geologist and earth sciences professor at Millersville University, said the sinkholes have been developing for years.
“It takes a long period of time,” he said, “and they are difficult to repair.”
The most effective way to repair a sinkhole is by plugging it with stone, Ramana said, but even that method isn’t foolproof.
“You fill it with rocks, and then hopefully it won’t (open) again,” he said. Sinkholes form when water dissolves limestone — a prevalent substratum in Lancaster County — and causes fractures, Ramana said.
“Limestone can be easily dissolved by acidic water,” he said. “In this area, the burning of coal makes the rain more acidic.”
In time, the fractures grow larger, Ramana said, and a cave forms underground.
“When the roof of the cave cannot support it, a hole shows up,” he said.
According to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, northern Lancaster County south of Furnace Hills is an area vulnerable to sinkhole development.
Sinkholes also are common north of Furnace Hills, especially in Palmyra. Ramana said their effects are more visible there, where numerous homes have cracked from the underground caves.
Article
Route 772 hit for third time in a month
By Brett Hambright
Intelligencer Journal
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Sinkholes are not uncommon in Lancaster County, and motorists using Route 772 near Talmage are getting to know the nuisances firsthand.
For the third time in less than a month, a sinkhole opened Monday in the 300 block of South State Street (Route 772) in West Earl Township.
The hole was excavated, then filled with stone late Monday afternoon and will be paved today if weather permits, PennDOT spokesman Greg Penny said.
“It’s pretty sizable,” Penny said of the hole, which was about 14 feet long, 12 feet deep and 4 feet wide. “These things just crop up, and you have to deal with them as they appear. That’s what we are doing.”
Route 772 between Stoltzfus and Locust avenues will be closed until the sinkhole is patched, Penny said.
On Wednesday, work crews filled a sinkhole in the same block that had developed the day before. On Sept. 29, six sinkholes opened in the area, halting water service for 33 homes nearby.
Penny said the repaired holes have remained closed. The one found Monday is just east of where the others formed.
Dr. R. Ramana, a geologist and earth sciences professor at Millersville University, said the sinkholes have been developing for years.
“It takes a long period of time,” he said, “and they are difficult to repair.”
The most effective way to repair a sinkhole is by plugging it with stone, Ramana said, but even that method isn’t foolproof.
“You fill it with rocks, and then hopefully it won’t (open) again,” he said. Sinkholes form when water dissolves limestone — a prevalent substratum in Lancaster County — and causes fractures, Ramana said.
“Limestone can be easily dissolved by acidic water,” he said. “In this area, the burning of coal makes the rain more acidic.”
In time, the fractures grow larger, Ramana said, and a cave forms underground.
“When the roof of the cave cannot support it, a hole shows up,” he said.
According to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, northern Lancaster County south of Furnace Hills is an area vulnerable to sinkhole development.
Sinkholes also are common north of Furnace Hills, especially in Palmyra. Ramana said their effects are more visible there, where numerous homes have cracked from the underground caves.
Article