Photo: Pittsburgh Public Safety Dept/Twitter
Residents in Pittsburgh had a rough start to their workweek when a massive sinkhole opened up and swallowed half of a city bus, resulting in a partial closure of a busy downtown street.
“Two people on @PGHtransit bus, one transported to hospital [with] minor injuries,” read atweetfrom Pittsburgh Public Safety on Monday. “Kids at Small World child care evacuated to Westin, and are happy and safe. Public safety evaluating situation. More updates to come.”
The Pittsburgh bus and a Kia Optima.Pittsburgh Public Safety Dept/Twitter
According toKDKA, the sinkhole impacted the morning rush hour and is expected to cause delays for Monday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers game at Heinz Field.
According to theDepartment of Environmental Protection, many factors can lead to the formation of a sinkhole, but a large portion of them are created due to water that has nowhere to drain. Once the liquid accumulates underground, it erodes rock and minerals.
“As more soil washes down (over years or maybe just days), the void space moves toward the surface until it can’t hold together anymore,” the department’s website explains.
This creates a hole that can eventually grow large enough that the ground above it collapses — resulting in a sinkhole.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Dept/Twitter
“When it collapses (or subsides), you see the sinkhole on the surface,” they added. “Often, you can only see soil in the hole and not the actual hole in the rock itself because the rock is too far below.”
Two cranes wereen route to the area to hoist the large bus from the opening, Pittsburgh Public Safety tweeted Monday morning, but because the vehicle landed on power lines, the city will have to temporarily cut power in the area during its removal.
source: people.com
