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Mississippi Parking Lot Collapses, Swallowing More Than a Dozen Cars

mark handler

mark handler

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Officials in Meridian, Mississippi, are trying to determine what caused a massive gash -- longer than a football field -- to tear through an IHOP parking lot, swallowing more than a dozen cars in the mud below.

The parking lot cracked open Saturday night, terrifying the crowd in the busy restaurant."One of the employees ran over to the window and yells 'Earthquake,'" said Noah Mathis, who was in the restaurant when it happened. "Everyone went into a panic."Although slabs of concrete ripped open, creating the massive crevice 15 feet deep, no one was hurt.Massive Sinkhole That Swallowed Florida Man Reopens, Two Years LaterWatch Massive Sinkhole Open Up at NYC IntersectionGiant Sinkhole Consumes Indiana Couple's Backyard"Everything was sudden and quick," Mathis said. "They were slamming their forks down from eating and they were sprinting outside as quick as they could."Emergency personnel said an underground drain pipe collapsed, but it was not clear why. Officials say the investigation has not ruled out the possibility that construction at the newly opened IHOP played a contributing factor.

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It appears that the parking lot interrupted a natural drainage course. The second picture shows a black crescent shape as the damage stopped before taking out the road. It is seemingly too large to be a man-made drain.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/08/giant-sinkhole-swallows-cars-mississippi-ihop-parking-lot/75409534/

This article says that there is an aquifer drying up and that is what caused the collapse. Not good news for the surrounding area if that's the case.



Mtlogcabin's picture showed the rest of the story. Much better than an aquifier drying up.
 
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Is that the normal gauge metal culvert that is used?

Seems like a little light for all the dirt and cars on top of it
 
mtlogcabin said:
http://www.meridianstar.com/news/local_news/update-engineers-to-try-and-determine-cause-of-sinkhole/article_5d421e30-863b-11e5-8faf-abe58686b315.html?mode=image&photo=2The link has 3 pictures where this was an underground drainage system. the black crescent that Ice mentioned is the drainage under the road
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UPDATE 2: Engineers to try and determine cause of 'sinkhole'
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That's the headline at the article. Why don't you help them out and send them the pictures you showed us.
 
That's a Rooty tooty fresh and fruity hum dinger of a sinkhole right there!
 
http://www.meridianstar.com/news/officials-say-failure-of-storm-water-drain-cause-of-collapse/article_27124fe0-875f-11e5-bdd2-7b674508fb61.html

Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:05 am

By Michael Stewart editor@themeridianstar.com

City of Meridian officials on Monday cited the "catastrophic failure" of an underground storm water drainage culvert as the culprit in the Saturday night collapse of a section of the parking lot outside an IHOP restaurant that swallowed at least 14 vehicles.

Monday, Meridian Mayor Percy Bland declared a state of emergency, which will allow the city to bring in outside engineering experts to shore up the site and expedite the removal of the vehicles from the gash in the parking lot, which is about 50 feet wide, 360 feet long and 30 feet deep.

Bland's assistant, Richie McAlister, said a storm water drainage pipe 18-feet-deep and 27-feet-wide that runs the length of the gash in the parking lot failed, causing the parking lot to collapse.

Engineers were on scene Monday trying to determine what caused the pipe's failure.

McAlister said the drainage culvert is the largest of its type in the state of Mississippi and there have been no prior problems with it since it was constructed in the late 1990s.

 
no problems until they extended it and cover it with dirt, possibly ran a big vibrator roller over it during paving
 
According to Google earth the culvert extended from the highway to the drainage ditch in 1997 and had a parking lot over it for many years. I agree the construction activity (staging area) and compacting the site probably was a big factor in the failure.
 
Is the metal pipe normally used for this drainage application???

I normally see concrete
 
cda said:
Is the metal pipe normally used for this drainage application???I normally see concrete
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The use of corrugated pipe for drainage culverts is very common in most parts of the United States. In many areas highway departments even use it for drainage under secondary roads. It actually gets stronger the more the dirt around it is compacted because the hard dirt prevents the pipe from distorting.
 
Mississippi Parking Lot Collapses, Swallowing More Than a Dozen Cars

Msradell said:
The use of corrugated pipe for drainage culverts is very common in most parts of the United States. In many areas highway departments even use it for drainage under secondary roads. It actually gets stronger the more the dirt around it is compacted because the hard dirt prevents the pipe from distorting.
Click to expand...
Yep usually they are a lot deeper and they are popular here in Nevada.
 
 
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