If You Think Detroit's Potholes Are Bad. . .

Robert Emslie

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Check out this sinkhole in a photo released by the Guatemalan government. Caused by the first major tropical storm of the season – Agatha – the hole has eaten an entire four-way intersection in the capital of Guatemala City.
In places like Detroit the potholes are mostly caused by the hydraulic action of water forced into fissures in the roadway by the pounding of car tires. This sinkhole was also the result of water infiltration, the storm having deluged the country and causing underground displacement of thousands of tons of earth, previously weakened by a poor sewage system according to residents.
A security guard reportedly fell into the hole, but luckily no one was driving or walking on the road when it opened up. One has to wonder what it must be like seeing something like that ready to eat not only your car but also your house, it must be pretty biblical.
Image source: [Guatemalan Government via Sydney Morning Herald]

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Robert Emslie

Robert Emslie

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23 responses to “If You Think Detroit's Potholes Are Bad. . .”

  1. Josh Avatar
    Josh

    Holy Crap Batman!

    Reply
  2. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    It almost looks PShopped. There doesn't appear to be a bottom, at least in this photo. Lots more photos on the SMH site. Scary. Think about how many loads of dirt it's going to take to fill that in. I just hope it doesn't spread.

    Reply
    1. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      I think at this point you just build a fence around it and call it a day. Either that or build a bridge across it. This is no filling this one.

      Reply
  3. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    Holey crap! Just looking at that I get a sinking feeling.
    I wonder if local theaters are doing special showings of "Journey to the Center of the Earth".

    Reply
  4. acarr260 Avatar
    acarr260

    MSNBC's story (this image was on their front page) says that there was a 3-story building that was swallowed by this sink hole.

    Reply
  5. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
    Peter Tanshanomi

    I blame God. He scrimped. The solid chocolate planets don't cost that much extra.

    Reply
  6. soo΄pәr-bādd75 Avatar
    soo΄pәr-bādd75

    I see the beginnings of a huge underground parking garage.

    Reply
  7. Ambersand Avatar
    Ambersand

    Yeah maybe it's just me, but the photo comparison doesn't even look like the same intersection. That's p'shopped. I'll stake my job on it. My real job even.

    Reply
    1. njhoon Avatar
      njhoon

      Not shopped. I swear, I thought it was too
      http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Flooding-opens-up-s…

      Reply
    2. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
      Peter Tanshanomi

      Photo comparison to what? If you are comparing it to the other photos which I posted, they are are NOT the same intersection. They are older photos of an sinkhole (which also happened to be in Guatemala) in 1997.

      Reply
      1. Ambersand Avatar
        Ambersand

        Compared to other photos on the net. Interestingly, two other sites talking about the current sink hole use old photos, so that's where my confusion arose regarding the intersection. Still, the current photo appears shopped to me. One site shows this – which to me seems more reasonable. But then again, I'm not there, so I don't know.
        http://www.buzztab.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06…

        Reply
  8. damnelantra™[!] Avatar
    damnelantra™[!]

    not saying that it is in fact real, but this is a case of apples to oranges. your image has a high noon, directly lit feeling. complete with harsh shadows and hot exposures. which cause a darkening quickly.
    whereas the guatmo image is overcast, ambient lit, with no discernible shadows for any direction. though the dirts surface does have a strangeness to it.
    though i am skeptical, i really hope this one is real. i mean of crazy is that shit… yo!

    Reply
    1. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
      Peter Tanshanomi

      I realize there's a big difference in the quality of the lighting. I am just saying that this is the way MOST pictures of big holes look — just like a black dot.
      And this has been reported by too many legit news agencies to be an Internet hoax. I don't doubt it's real, I just wonder if the exposure was manipulated, perhaps even "enhanced."

      Reply
      1. damnelantra™[!] Avatar
        damnelantra™[!]

        hdr?

        Reply
        1. joshuman Avatar
          joshuman

          I keep meaning to try that but my D40 doesn't have the auto-bracketing feature. I could do it manually but I don't have a tripod or remote trigger so the clean-up would take longer. Have you tried just using as single RAW image with good results?

          Reply
          1. damnelantra™[!] Avatar
            damnelantra™[!]

            i have yet to do any tone mapping high range todadiery with the fancy pants camera. all my hdr experence has been with my powershot compact camera. http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=hdr&w=9294353…

  9. dragon951 Avatar
    dragon951

    "A security guard reportedly fell into the hole, but luckily no one was driving or walking on the road when it opened up."
    Does that mean security guards aren't people?

    Reply
  10. coupeZ600 Avatar
    coupeZ600

    Here's another photo in different light where you can see the bottom of the hole (kinda').
    http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20100601/pais/15…

    Reply
  11. JeepyJayhawk Avatar
    JeepyJayhawk

    PS or not, that is going to take a lot of beer cans to fill in.

    Reply
  12. Buickboy92 Avatar
    Buickboy92

    Is the guard ok????

    Reply
  13. matt Avatar
    matt

    this photo is fake, the only way this would ever happen is if the was a 200 ft deep pipeline that had a hole punched in the top of it and slowly undermined the earth, but even then the perfectly round and verticle walls it would have to be pre excavated material to take that shape

    Reply
  14. Patrick Havir Avatar
    Patrick Havir

    Your article has additional good benefit for a weblog. I say this mainly because to me personally I come across it beneficial. Possibly to some an individual else it’s not but to me you did very good. Many thanks for your knowledge.

    Reply
  15. scientology Avatar
    scientology

    Great article. I am definitely looking forward to seeing more posts!!!

    Reply