| Author |
Message |
    
Nursie
| | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 3:47 pm: |     |
I have a perfectly round, about eight feet in diameter, depression in my backyard. I first noticed it last summer but it was only about three feet in diameter at that time. I have heard and read about sink holes but don't have a clue how to tell it this is in fact a sink hole nor who to call to check it out. I seem to remember someone in Maplewood having a sink hole in their yard several years ago and that one caved completly in. Any ideas out there? |
Kmk
| | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 6:40 pm: | |
Could it be an old filled-in well or oil tank location? The fact that it's perfectly round is telling. |
Octofoil
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 1:28 am: | |
Check your survey (the one done when you purchased your home) for any notations about the locations of old wells, septic tanks (though perhaps unlikely, depending on where you live and the age of the house) and oil tanks. |
Toad
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 7:23 am: | |
There is an old Storm drain system that runs down from Washington Park, under Ridgewood Road, and through the backyards along the southwest side of St. Lawrence Ave. In recent years the system has been collapsing in various locations causing sink holes. This is one possibility. Or maybe it' just an old stump that has deteriorated. Good luck. |
Nursie
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 9:41 am: | |
Toad and All,
Thanks for the info. In fact I live on Ridgewood diagnal from Washington Park, one block from St. Lawrence and on the Southwest side! Will caldron it off today and call the town tomorrow. Still don't know how to take care of the problem though if it is a sink hole! |
Ros
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 9:43 am: | |
I had a sink hole in my driveway a few years back, and it actually collapsed to a hole 20 feet deep! Very scary, as neighborhood kids playing in my yard would walk over the area quite often and I drove my car over that spot daily. Turns out it was a cistern where an old outhouse was many many years ago(apparently there was a farm around here)I had a couple of loads of fill put in to take care of it. Unfortunately I couldn't get my insurance company to cover the cost.
Good luck, and take care of it asap! |
Jem
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 9:54 am: | |
Nursie, Are you calling in a local coven of witches to solve the problem? I can see them now, chanting over their caldron.  |
Nursie
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 12:07 pm: | |
It might take witches to fix the darn thing, but of course I ment to type "cordon", not caldron. Also did not mean to have two threads, another mistake. Well, off to Home Depot! |
Ken
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 12:46 pm: | |
Nursie
Sorry to hear about your problem with your sinkhole. I'm in the same area as you are, and I found out about the sinkholes several years ago when my backyard and my neighbor's backyard collapsed due to the storm drain.
Some history:
The stream that runs down from Washington Park flows east to about Kendal Ave, where it connects into a north/south brook that flows south appearing at Jefferson Avenue. All of this is underground in culverts that were built in the early part of the 20th century. When the area was developed by builders, the streams were placed under ground and covered up.
What has happened is that the 5 foot culverts have deterioated and are causing sinkholes.
The Town is aware of the problem, and they realize that this is a major undertaking. The brook runs in everyone's backyard, under garages, and near foundations of houses along St. Lawrence and Kendal Avenues.
Here is an excerpt I saved from this board by then Mayor Ryan explaining the issue:
By Gerardryan (Gerardryan) on Tuesday, January 4, 2000 -
11:12 am:
We've been referring to that project (the St.
Lawrence/Kendal drainage issue) as the "Jefferson/Wyoming
Drainage Project". The drainpipes coming out of the
reservation and down the hill are very old and are in very
bad shape.
We found out about how bad this was when we fixed a sinkhole
in this area in 1997. There has since been additional damage
from Hurricane Floyd; that's when another sinkhole opened
up. That sinkhole should be repaired in the next few weeks
(when the contractor is available, and weather permitting).
We had Schoor Depalma engineering in to evaluate the larger
picture on the drainage in the area. We're waiting for a
final report from them with recommendations on how to
address the situation there.
Once we have the report we'd need to decide on a course of
action and schedule the work. This larger-scale project is
probably not going to happen in 2000.
Jerry Ryan
---------------
I have not heard anything about the project since then. My fear, along with my neighbors, is that the Town is going to say that it is the homeowner's responsibility. In that case, we have our attorney's ready.
By all means Nursie, take photos and call the town. Get them to come out and document what happened.
Maybe we can get this resolved soon. I wanted to get a reduction on my land assessment because of all the dirt I'm losing. (Didn't work)!
Ken |
Chico
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2001 - 11:35 pm: | |
May we please have some pertinent facts on: town responsibility vs. homeowner responsibility. The stream has been quite visible leaving Washington Park for more than a few decades. Would (should) the new homeowner living downstream have wondered where the all H2O was going (before the purchase/transfer of property)? If a real estate agent was involved, is she (he) for any failure to disclose? Is the seller similiarly liable? Who were the developers; can they or their offspring be held responsible? Who were the engineers who planned/authorized this drainage system? Who were the authorities in charge when the work was performed? Are pay-offs suspected? Why not just make a big stream, as river work is already planned in Maplewood for this year. Input please, from local historians and legal/engineering experts. |
Gerardryan
| | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2001 - 8:27 am: | |
I think the drainage system Toad mentions predates the existence of many of us :-) Like a number of very old pieces of infrastructure in town, there's no existing plans or records; in many cases there are no easements either. Nobody suspects any wrongdoing back in the 20's or 30's, or any payoffs or any such nonsense. It's just a really really old piece of pipe that's deteriorated. |
Nursie
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 9:21 am: | |
Thanks everyone. The town engineer is coming out today. |
Dave
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 4:00 pm: | |
If he disappears, we'll know what happened. |
Ken
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 7:20 pm: | |
Nursie?
How did you make out with your sink hole? Did the Town Engineer come over?
Ken |
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