Sink Holes - Page 1

I used to worry that the way I'd meet my maker would be something mundane or stupid, like getting hit by a car crossing a road.  After hearing about all these sinkholes opening up and just swallowing people in their sleep or on the golf course, well, it is somewhat disturbing!

I just found a sink whole in one of my fields yesterday !!  It's crazy. It is completely hollow my whole leg length. I could even wiggle my leg and boot around down there and touch nothing !!! I tried to go further but the dirt was crumbling in around me .. literally those suckers will swallow you up.

I need to fill that up today for sure .. that would swallow a person .. and who knows how deep it is.

What the heck would cause that out of nowhere ? 

 

Draining underground aquifers, for one. Any mining going on near you?

Good points, Bee. I used to work for guy in upstate NY, who leased hundreds of acres to put his Bulls and steers and bare back/saddle broncs on, for a few dollars. The land was unsafe because of miles of subterranean coal mines, therefore no buildings can be put on it.

My dad lives in UT and they are everywhere. He actually has lost horses grazing that just fall in and cant get out. He lost a baby one year that somehow lived after being in the hole for close to a week. They had to pull him out with a quad.  He registered the horse as "Sink Hole Sid"

Barb
 

Sink holes are common here, we have limestone and water, both key ingredients for producing sink holes.
The water eats away at the bedrock until the surface collapses into the void left behind and becomes a sink hole.
If you've never seen the Great Mammoth Cave you should do it sometime, well worth the trip, southern Indiana and many parts of Kentucky have caves open to tourists.

I think the odds are you'll be struck by lightening before you'll step into a sink hole.

My property borders a limestone quarry and a deep mine which was closed after a ceiling collapse killed several workers 25 years ago.
Now a company uses that mine to store explosives, you could drive giant earth movers in through the openings.
A darkness only a miner could explain.
I have several sink holes on my property and so far one nice cave that runs nearly a mile long underground across the road.
I posted pictures once of me and my black dog in that quarry.

I never knew they were such a problem in Florida though.





 

Unfortunately here in Florida, money talks.  The big incorporated farms are allowed almost unlimited irrigation during the dry season.  Motels, hotels, and condos are allowed to water their big huge grass filled water sucking landscaping year around.  Same with the big country clubs and don't get me started on the golf courses.  A few years ago there was a push to have new construction forced to use "zero scaping", which is region specific, drought tolerant plantings and other non-water using sources of landscaping.  My parents took advantage of the residents' grants and zero scaped their back yard.  No grass, nice river rock and drought tolerant plants.  They are allowed to use potted plants and their back yard with solar night lighting is pretty awesome.  Unfortunately, the snow birds expect nice big green grass expanses with their winter vacationing or so the hotel, motel, condo, country club, etc whined to the various city and county entities.  In the areas next to those that use high amounts of water, sink holes open up.  A few times during the dry season in years past, my parents told me the residents were put on water restriction (charged extra for going over your allotted gallonage for the number of people living there, you are allowed vacationers if you let the utility company know) while the hotels, motels, condos, country clubs, golf courses, etc used water as they pleased including sprinkling those nice green landscapes.  Rumor has it the residents will be going on that this year if we don't get more rain.  Oil isn't going to be the future, water trading will be.......JMO


 


 

Hi Mindhunt,

We have an on-site waste water treatment plant, use the reclaimed water to irrigate the golf course and other green areas. The excess goes into a big lake.

FL is going to find themselves in a huge amount of hurt if things don't change drastically.  This world needs wetlands, not more condo's.  Quit draining everything and quit irrigating everything and let mother nature reclaim it's wetlands, at least a good portion.  Let the water tables and aquifers catch up