About 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in an area where sinkholes are likely to occur, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which found most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
But unlike those states, the material immediately below the land surface across most of Ohio isn’t comprised of limestone, sand or clay that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater and open up huge sinkholes.
Most of the sinkholes in the area are the result of leaking water and sewer lines that wash away soil under roads, allowing the ground to collapse, according to Miami County Engineer Paul Huelskamp. And the likelihood of that happening has been increased by the heavy rains that pounded the Miami Valley about a week ago, he said.
“Mostly what we’re seeing is sewer lines and storm drains that are leaky because of an aging infrastructure,” Huelskamp said. “Basically, the soil and the material that’s around the line gets carried into the line by the water and then gets washed away, leaving a void.
“In most cases, the soil and structure is under pavement,” he said. “The pavement will bridge that void for awhile until it reaches some critical point where it can’t bridge anymore, and then it falls in. That’s where you get the sinkhole.”
In the last week alone, at least five sinkholes have been reported in the local area, including on Fourth Street in Tipp City; Ohio 202 in Bethel Twp.; North Jersey Street in Dayton; Greenlawn Avenue and South Smithville Road in Dayton; and Kessler-Frederick Road in West Milton.
A portion of Kessler-Frederick Road near Worley Road has been shut down for up to 12 weeks because of the large sinkhole there that opened up over the weekend.
Huelskamp said the heavy rain collapsed an underground box culvert used to transfer water from one side of the road to the other. It will cost about $25,000 to $30,000 to replace the culvert and fill the sinkhole and repair the pavement, Huelskamp said, adding that the cost of repairs will deal a stiff blow to county coffers coming off one of the most sever winters in recent memory.
“The winter was terrible,” he said. “We spent a lot of money on snow removal and salt. So this (sinkhole repair) is a double hit.”
Local and county officials are likely to continue to see bills for sinkhole repairs for months to come, Huelskamp said. “We had a very rare storm. Couple that with an aging infrastructure…and we’ll see results of this moving forward probably for the next year or so. Sinkholes will develop in different places.”
Montgomery County Engineer Paul Gruner said he isn’t overly concerned about sinkholes going forward, but he said it’s nearly impossible to predict where the next sinkhole might occur.
“We don’t anticipate too many more problems in that regard, but there could be some somewhere,” Gruner said. “Usually, you can see signs (of leaking) at the entrances and exits of pipes if it happens sometime immediately after the event. But with the rain we had last week, there wasn’t any way to be prepared for it. It all happened in the period of an hour or so.”
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