Sink hole at the Corvette Museum

What a shame allright,
I used to deliver not far from there a lot.
I dont know how many times I've been there.
Scary tought.

Didnt they do some major work in ther not long ago?
Think this would have anything to do with this?

I didnt know about sink hoes, newscaster seems to say it's not a rare occurence in that region.
After thinking about it, theres a lot of caves in the region.

Priceless cars in the hole for sure huh?
 
OK....

Is it just me? I don't see any rebar -much less wire mesh. Just some poly sheeting and what looks to be 4" concrete?

I definitely think this would be considered a commercial building. Residential at least has wire mesh.

To me - it looks like some serious corners were cut in building.

Richard
 
Richard454 said:
OK....

Is it just me? I don't see any rebar -much less wire mesh. Just some poly sheeting and what looks to be 4" concrete?

I definitely think this would be considered a commercial building. Residential at least has wire mesh.

To me - it looks like some serious corners were cut in building.

Richard
Click to expand...

Tell you what's funny, I was building a 9x12' shed in the backyard up north, about 30 years ago, it was funny as hell as I used old auto parts as the 'wire mesh'...axles, wheels, bumpers, and so who ever goes to tear it down is going to be hating life....and me....:harhar::lol: due to ground irregularities the slab went from 6" in one corner to ~12" in another....
 
Richard454 said:
OK....

Is it just me? I don't see any rebar -much less wire mesh. Just some poly sheeting and what looks to be 4" concrete?

I definitely think this would be considered a commercial building. Residential at least has wire mesh.

To me - it looks like some serious corners were cut in building.

Richard
Click to expand...

Good call, espcially in a area prone to have these sink hole.
 
1Michel said:
Richard454 said:
OK....

Is it just me? I don't see any rebar -much less wire mesh. Just some poly sheeting and what looks to be 4" concrete?

I definitely think this would be considered a commercial building. Residential at least has wire mesh.

To me - it looks like some serious corners were cut in building.

Richard
Click to expand...

Good call, espcially in a area prone to have these sink hole.
Click to expand...

I made a similar comment on bangshift, how they got away without any kind of reinforcement in a floor that is going to support cars is a darn good question. Around here, they require an inspection of the reinforcement before you pour....
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
1Michel said:
Richard454 said:
OK....

Is it just me? I don't see any rebar -much less wire mesh. Just some poly sheeting and what looks to be 4" concrete?

I definitely think this would be considered a commercial building. Residential at least has wire mesh.

To me - it looks like some serious corners were cut in building.

Richard
Click to expand...

Good call, espcially in a area prone to have these sink hole.
Click to expand...

I made a similar comment on bangshift, how they got away without any kind of reinforcement in a floor that is going to support cars is a darn good question. Around here, they require an inspection of the reinforcement before you pour....
Click to expand...

YUP!!!! I would have used rebar all wired up nasty and then at least a 6" slab throughout.....maybe even footers every 12' or so through the entire flooring.....guess they scrimped too much on construction costs....course who knows what why, either or IF my comments would have made any diff....:gurney::hissyfit: Just glad MY car is not involved....
 
It's easy to second guess what happened and why after the fact. When the place was built I'm sure there were soils test & such done. The engineers know what kind of terrain they are building on. That cavern could have been 1000 feet below and a mile away at the time, unknown and undetectable. Underground water flow, caving and sluffing of the top and sides make those things move through the earth. It could have opened up anywhere.
Perhaps, this is conjecture, vibrations from the building through the earth could have caused the cavern roof to sluff beneath it, but I would think if that were the case, it would more likely have opened under the parking lot from vehicular vibration, or under the highway nearby. Or stormwater drainage, changed from the even absorbtion of the open fields that used to be there to concentrated points by building streets, buildings, etc. could have been a contributing factor in destroying the integrity of the ground below.
As far as slab reinforcement, that is not necessarily required. The structural foundations would have reinforcement, but a floor slab, especially if floating, not necessarily. It's just an interior floor slab with a very light load rating. No machinery, no concentrated loads. Reinforcement would be at the discretion of the engineers. Sometimes you don't want reinforcement, you want individual sections of a slab to float independantly and not transfer their stresses to other parts of the structure.
Yeah, a real bummer---but at least nobody was hurt, apparently (so far) no infrastructure or utility damage.
Sometimes shit just happens.
 
Last edited:
I worked for a cement company for 10 years (Lafarge), delivered a lot of cement in industrial building.

Never poured in a place without rebars or at least somekind of reinforcement.
(fibermesh in the cement)
Dont know the construction codes in KY or Bowling green area but this shouldnt happen in such a building.
This is not a bungalow, shouldve been rebars in there or at least a thicker slab..

If not required, I'll bet this will worry a few building owners out in the area.
 
I would agree---and I sure would not want to be the engineer whose stamp is on it, or the inspector who signed it off if there was supposed to be some type of reinforcement.......
 
I don't live in sink-hole country - and I'm 99% sure (granted, I've never asked either; and I used to work as a general contractor in Oregon) that reinforcement is required for any space that holds up cars.

I am sure that the guys who built my pole barn would have given me the option of avoiding reinforcement if they could have gotten away with it... and it's a pole barn/ floating floor over glacial till (it doesn't get more solid than that unless it's rock)

Don't know about Kentucky codes, but I'd be pretty surprised that it wasn't required in a space where they were parking cars - all it takes, even without a sinkhole, is a heave crack and the "I fell and hurt my back" plaintiffs to be lining up for a new Corvette.
 
What a shame....all those cool cars damaged. :hissyfit:

On a positive note, several eyewitnesses have reported that this was the fastest a C4 has ever been seen moving!!!! :rofl:
 
maybe they can fill the hole with ricers and mustangs.
personally i agree that rebar and mesh should have been used, it wouldn't have needed to be tied in to the main structure. but a 3k pound car isn't exactly a sidewalk. still it is a shame.
 
I was a general contractor in a former life and there is NO way we could get away without rebar and wire mesh - and we are not Sink Hole Prone around here!!!

Good news - GM is taking all 8 cars and they are going to make them "Like New"!!! They may have to remove roof or wall panels to get them out but they'll get it done in time for the 20th anniversary of the museum.

John
 
Now the question is, what are they going to do to insure the surrounding ground is stable? If there is no mesh or rebar, will they have to tear up the existing slab and repour?
Saw it on the news the other day. Just about made me cry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top