Sinkholes, soils, fractures, and drainage; Interstate 70 near Frederick, Maryland

Maryland State Highway Administration, Brooklandville, MD, United States

Numerous sinkholes have recently formed on both sides of Interstate 70 south of Frederick, Maryland. All the sinkholes are cover-collapse types, which form when soil cavities grow upward from the bedrock surface until their roofs become unstable. Areas at greatest risk for sinkhole development lie within a network of dry swales. The roughly dendritic map pattern and presence of allochthonous siliciclastic alluvium suggest that these swales are the vestiges of a vanished surface drainage system. Sinkholes occur mainly along bedrock escarpments underlying the swales, which are located along an easterly-trending transverse fracture and a series of strike-parallel fractures which intersect with it. Although the surface drainage appears to have flowed east and north in the past, surface runoff in large quantities is infiltrating the ground or directly entering some of the sinkholes, then following subsurface conduits which convey it southward under the highway. Compaction grouting has been employed to prevent collapse or further subsidence of the most threatened portions of the highway. Soil Survey maps can be useful in locating cryptic intermittent or relict drainage pathways which may be at high risk for sinkhole formation when subjected to anthropogenic concentrations of perched storm water.

This record provided courtesy of AGI/GeoRef.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. K. Brezinski Geologic and anthropogenic factors influencing karst development in the Frederick region of Maryland Environmental Geosciences, March 1, 2007; 14(1): 31 - 48. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]