USE OF SINKHOLES FOR DRAINAGE

Sinkholes have long been used for drainage in the design and construction of highways. Decisions to use them, however, seem to be based more on expediency than on engineering and scientific analysis. This practice has apparently resulted from the traditional notion that the processes and mechanisms of sinkhole development and proliferation are not totally analyzable and, therefore, not predictable. Although it is true that investigations of sinkholes and sinkhole-prone topography rarely produce absolute and finite data that can be applied in a strict quantitative sense, there are methods of analysis that, when coupled with experience and judgment, can be used with a high degree of success. In general, these analyses require information regarding such factors as geologic structure (e.g., joint orientation, direction and angle of dip); depth, direction of flow, and slope of the groundwater table; thickness and makeup of the regolith; degree of solution development and present level of activity; relief and topographic expression; size of area being drained by the sinkhole; location of known or assumed points of discharge; precipitation and flood levels; well locations and level fluctuations; location and size of swallets; and potential for further residential or commercial development. As with sinkhole problems in general, problems resulting from their use for drainage fall into two categories: those related to subsidence, or collapse, and those related to flooding. Regardless of which of these problems is being considered, the designer must always be alert to the fact that the treatment being applied to one may result in the development of the other. The success of future preventive and corrective measures will depend on more intensive geological and geotechnical investigations, as well as more stringent land use restrictions and building codes.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1984/978/978-004.pdf
• Record URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=USE+OF+SINKHOLES+FOR+DRAINAGE&author=D.+Royster&publication_year=1984
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Soil and Rock Properties. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Royster, David L
• Conference:
  • 63rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1984-1-16 to 1984-1-20
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: pp 18-25
• Monograph Title: Construction and difficult geology: karstic limestone, permafrost, wetlands, and peat deposits
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 978
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aggregate gradation; Depth; Floods; Flow; Geological subsidence; Geotechnical engineering; Groundwater; Sinkholes; Surface drainage; Topography
• Old TRIS Terms: Gradation analysis; Highway drainage; Precipitation
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; I43: Rock Mechanics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00396851
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309037603
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 31 1986 12:00AM