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Sinkhole science: What causes them?

Sinkholes happen when underground water or other moisture erodes away the soil or the lining of an underground pipe.
Credit: KUSA
Sinkhole closes streets in Capitol Hill

ID=9739887DENVER - A recent sinkhole in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood got a lot of attention.

The eight-foot deep hole at Ninth Avenue and Washington Street opened up two weeks ago when a storm sewer pipe cracked. It has since been repaired.

However, sinkholes happen when underground water or other moisture erodes away the soil or the lining of an underground pipe.

"Since water affects infrastructure, we have to see where are the important infrastructures," Dr. Nien-Yum Chang with the University of Colorado Denver said. "We [need to] monitor the important infrastructure. If infrastructure is performing incorrectly, then the residual affect could be something like a sinkhole."

Chang admits constant monitoring is expensive and may not be practical for all cities. He also suggests officials divide the city into zones based on their soil composition.

Officials should concentrate on zones where the soil erodes easier and a sinkhole is more likely to occur.

(KUSA-TV © 2014 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

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