Heard there was a sinkhole in Kansas - Hutchinson, maybe? Very near a railyard. Any details? Whose yard?
Mookie
Mookie:
BNSF’s Santa Fe Yard plus the main track that runs the Southwest Chief… UP, Watco (K&O) and shortline H&S are also in Hutch. (Huge elevtors there)…possibly an abandoned salt mine has collapsed there. Geologists are drilling holes and dropping in video cameras to study the void. Morton Salt and others have large salt mines there.
How big is the sinkhole? A bad thought. Water gets into mine and starts to disolve support pilars. Major subsidence.
Jay
Let’s put it this way,Let’s just say it’s verrrrrrrrry large!
The BNSF is gona have to Abandon that yard.
how many tracks are (were?) in the yard???
stay safe
joe
Links? Pictures? Offical statments?
Haven’t things like this happened in Hutch before?
m
I read a report somewhere today that it was confirmed that an abandoned salt well was the cause of the sinkhole. It has to stop enlarging before efforts can be made to stabilize the railroad.
The BNSF Way yard on the east side of Hutchinson was built in 1926 and hold about 15 tracks. It;s main function is a staging area for unit grain trains. Two yard jobs work M-F w/ one job wknds. It is interesting to note in 1975 another sinkhole near the same area opened up that took out some spur tracks that had rail cars parked at the time. needless to say that the rr hasa concern about the yard as Hutchinson is built over the world largest underground salt mines. Hutch is know as the ‘Salt City’ and the high school is known as the ‘Salt Hawks’.
[:p]ill try to get up there sometime and get pictures! but FIRST i have to go to matfield green![:I]
They can always fill it with dirt and build a bridge:-P or have a nice extra supply or salt for snow melting…
“OUCH”!