This past weekend, tourists at a luxury villa at Summer Bay Resort near Disney World were awoken by their building collapsing into a sinkhole. Everyone got out of the building safely, although some had to escape through windows as door frames collapsed. The sinkhole is estimated to be up to 60 feet in diameter, with about 1/3 of the villa settling into the sinkhole. Florida is more prone to sinkholes because the state sits on a bed of limestone, which dissolves easily in water, with clay on top. In some areas, the clay is thicker, causing there to be more chance of sinkholes. Sinkholes can be avoided by studying the flow of water and redirecting it in certain situations, avoiding construction on ground that is too soft, and treating underground limestone to withstand harmful water. I think that the resort should have researched whether the ground was stable enough to hold a 3 story building there. I don't think this is something that can be regulated by law, but people should think more about where they are putting buildings and be more aware of the dangers of their land.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/12/211325797/resort-villa-collapses-into-sinkhole-near-disney-world
info on preventing sinkholes:
http://www.heliconfoundationrepair.com/six-steps-to-prevent-or-diminish-sinkholes/
photos:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/12/us-usa-florida-sinkhole-idUSBRE97B0D520130812
I can’t believe that happened to that resort. I glad that nobody got hurt because of the sink hole. I never knew why sinkholes happened before reading your blog. I wonder for areas like Florida is there ways to make houses less likely to cause a sinkhole. Like you said the question what could the builders of the resort have done differently? Maybe there should be building codes and the area where a builder wants to build should be inspected to make sure the area is not susceptible to sinkholes.
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