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Nashville, TN – Detecting & Dealing With Sinkholes

BY: John Greene, Smoky Mountain Crawl Space Systems

If you are unsure whether or not you live in an area with a high risk for sinkholes, you can check with your local, territorial, or national government offices and geological surveys such as the United States Geological Survey (USGS). However, it is not always easy to predict where a sinkhole event will occur.

Scientists are currently working on developing effective methods to find underground cavities that might develop into sinkholes utilizing radar, seismography, and electrical resistance. Since 10% of the world’s land area is estimated to contain karst (rugged and partially eroded rock) topography, the development of such detection methods could go a long way in preventing the catastrophic damages that are associated with sinkholes [2].

Signs to watch out for in terms of sinkhole development include small holes in the ground, if a structure is found to have cracks in its foundation, slumping trees or fence posts, water collecting in areas where it has not previously collected, or the wilting of small circular areas of vegetation. These warning signs can potentially indicate if there is a sinkhole that is currently forming on your property.

If you have discovered a sinkhole that is threatening a house or another structure, be sure to get out immediately to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. Then, contact your local emergency personnel and a building inspector. If you discover a sinkhole in the middle of a road, be sure to contact local law enforcement right away.

What about insurance and permits?

In most cases, sinkholes that occur on a person’s private property are considered to be their own responsibility. Insurance companies are much more likely to cover an evaluation and repair if the sinkhole was naturally caused, such as by a subsidence event, rather than if it is caused by people, such as a collapsed or broken sewer pipe and drainpipe, broken septic tanks, buried trash, or improperly compacted soil following construction activities [1].

Typically, permits are not required to fill a sinkhole on private property (check with your local authorities to be certain). If the sinkhole contains groundwater (and thus, is connected to a local aquifer), a sinkhole fill permit will likely be required by the local Environmental Protection Authority or Water Management District to ensure that proper actions are taken to prevent groundwater contamination.

How to fix a sinkhole

Before you put your hand on that shovel, you need to distinguish a do-it-yourself sinkhole fix from a more challenging problem, which only an expert can handle. If the sinkhole is not affecting a house or other structure, and has a reasonable size — 2 to 5 feet in both diameter and depth — then you can repair it yourself.

A large sinkhole will most likely require excavation and a more complex filling operation.

Here are six steps to repair a sinkhole:

  1. With a sturdy stick, determine the depth of the sinkhole and whether the bottom and the surrounding ground are stable. Monitor the sinkhole to make sure it does not grow any longer.
  2. Shovel away the outer edges of the sinkhole if they are unstable.
  3. Add a layer of dry-mix concrete or a concrete plug to the bottom of the hole to provide a solid base.
  4. Add clayey sand on top of the concrete. This will help to keep water from leaking out of the hole to prevent the sinkhole from growing larger over time. A local contractor should know where to obtain the clayey sand. If clayey sand is unavailable, pure clean sand works as well. Rocks can also be used to help fill in the hole at this stage.
  5. Add sand and topsoil on top of the previous layers in order to help things blend in with the surrounding landscape. Pack the soil down with an iron bar or the top of a sledgehammer.
  6. Water the filled-in sinkhole thoroughly. Watering helps the fill to settle and lets you know whether you will need to add more soil. That’s it!

After few days check the filled-in sinkhole. It is possible that you will need to add additional soil because all layers are well packed by now, but eventually the hole should become stabilized.

But what about the very large… huge… and mammoth-sized sinkholes?

Large sinkholes typically require engineering professionals to properly repair them and to follow the necessary environmental requirements concerning local aquifers.

In some cases, cement and rocks are used to fill the very large sinkholes. However, it is possible that by simply using concrete alone to fill these big holes, the water may actually concentrate in other nearby areas, potentially leading to additional sinkhole formation.

The most preferred way to fix these very large sinkholes is similar to the method that is outlined above to fix smaller sinkholes, called the graded-filter technique, where there are layers of boulders, smaller rocks, and then gravel that are placed into the hole. The advantage of this technique is that it fills the hole while allowing for water drainage.

However, if the sinkholes are caused by older and decaying infrastructure, such as a leaky sewage system in urban areas, more sinkholes are likely to develop until such problems are fixed. This is especially the case if you live in a geographic area that is already vulnerable to sinkholes.

Fortunately, the dramatic cover-collapse type of large sinkholes that instantly swallow up buildings and cars are fairly rare.

Some caution is advised!

Because many sinkholes are connected to aquifers, it is important that you do not fill them with any materials that could potentially be harmful to the groundwater supply, such as trash or chemicals.

Hopefully this article will help you to have patched up that annoying spot in your front or backyard that showed up slowly over time. For those of you dealing with a more serious sinkhole problem you can find the appropriate solution from the appropriate sources. If your residence is suffering from foundational damage due to a sinkhole “too close to home” give Barrier Waterproofing Systems a call today at (615) 257-1060 | (931) 536-1168. We can evaluate your property any foundational damage and waterproofing needs and make the necessary repairs to get your home in tip top shape.

 

“Best Crawl Space Repair in Nashville, TN”

Top Rated Local Crawl Space Repair & Cleaning Service Company

Davidson County: Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Clarksville, TN

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“Best Crawl Space Repair in Nashville, TN”

Top Rated Local Crawl Space Repair & Cleaning Service Company

Davidson County: Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Murfreesboro, Clarksville, TN

CityScoop is the top ranked local business news network in the United States. Established in 2008, CityScoop has been providing local communities with high quality news about local businesses and their most recent projects.

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John Greene

Smoky Mountain Crawl Space Systems

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BIO: BARRIER WATERPROOFING SYSTEMS is a top rated full service custom crawl space and basement repair service & cleaning company serving the greater Nashville, TN area.

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Nashville, TN – Detecting & Dealing With Sinkholes