During heavy rainstorms, you’ve probably noticed that sinkholes form across Maryland, particularly in our roadways. Sometimes, floods will cause entire roads to collapse.
During heavy rainstorms, you’ve probably noticed that sinkholes form across Maryland, particularly in our roadways. Sometimes, floods will cause entire roads to collapse. Here is a video where you can see a road completely falling apart due to heavy rainfall. Have you ever wondered what causes these catastrophes, and why sinkholes appear? Since sinkholes are becoming a real problem, let’s take a look at why they happen in the first place.
Why Do Sinkholes Occur?
For the most part, this has to do with excessive water. Sinkholes are most common in marshy areas of the world, because the soil isn’t stable enough to hold up pavement. Erosion can also cause issues, meaning that a lot of roadways that collapse are probably affected by years and years of water eating away at the Earth. It’s not uncommon for topsoil to completely disintegrate, causing gaping holes in our roadways that need extensive repair.
Why Do They Affect Roadways?
Large, public roads are often built over water mains. This means that a burst pipe can erode the soil and cause a collapse. This is quite common whenever there is a water main break; it causes rapid erosion that wouldn’t otherwise occur. This is also considered a sinkhole caused by humans, as natural sinkholes happen slowly and gradually over time.
Are They Dangerous?
Sometimes. Sinkholes can be large or small. The smaller ones will likely just cause extensive repairs to the roadway, probably leading to traffic and inconvenience. However, as you saw in the above video, some sinkholes and road collapses can swallow cars and other surrounding scenery. Preventing sinkholes is difficult, though. That’s why the biggest solution to the problem is aftercare, which can be done by paving professionals.
PTG Enterprises has the experience to fix road defects quickly and safely!
If you want to protect your asphalt and ensure it has a long lifespan, choose PTG Enterprises for your sealcoating and asphalt maintenance needs. We offer commercial concrete, masonry, asphalt installation, repair, and paving throughout Baltimore, Harford, Anne Arundel, Howard, and P.G. Counties. If you are interested in hearing how we can help you, contact us online or give us a call at (410) 636-8777. For more tips and tricks, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, and Flickr.
