The Interstate 80 Sinkhole Closure Is Not Unique
The occurrence of sinkholes in New Jersey is not a rare event.
Sinkholes can be caused by subsurface geology (e.g. karst/limestone or other unstable geology), abandoned mines, and illegal disposal of waste and construction and demolition debris. There are many ways of identifying, analyzing, avoiding, regulating, and managing these risks.
The risks of sinkholes can be significant. Examples:
- In terms of risks to occupied buildings, I was thinking about the collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, on June 24, 2021, one of the deadliest structural disasters in American history. Ninety-eight people were killed and many others injured.
Subsurface conditions (geology, chemistry, corrosion, erosion, et al) were like major causes. FYI, the National Institute Of Standards and Technology recently issued this:
- In terms of State regulatory requirements, I found that Minnesota has specific state stormwater management regulatory requirements – see:
NJ DEP has a vague design standard, see:
7:8-5.2 Stormwater management measures for major development
https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/rules/rules/njac7_8.pdf
(i) Design standards for stormwater management measures are as follows:
1. Stormwater management measures shall be designed to take into account the existing site conditions, including, but not limited to, environmentally critical areas; wetlands; flood-prone areas; slopes; depth to seasonal high water table; soil type, permeability, and texture; drainage area and drainage patterns; and the presence of solution-prone carbonate rocks (limestone);”
I saw that federal and State highway engineering manuals also focus on karst. Wonder if NJ DOT has any? See this Virginia DOT Report.
- In terms of risks to infrastructure, water and sewer lines are vulnerable, but so are hazards like gas pipelines. See this Tennessee gas pipeline construction related sinkhole along River Road in Montague:
https://www.wolfenotes.com/2013/07/tennessee-gas-pipeline-drilling-causes-sinkhole-road-collapse/
I previously posted USGS, NJ DEP, and State Plan technical Reports:
From the US Geological Survey:
Structural and lithologic control of karst features in northwestern New Jersey
From the NJ State Geologist:
From DEP and State planners
And we used DEP data to warn about abandoned mines:
Science, data, reports, regulations, etc are available on all these topics. The media needs to start asking informed questions.