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Sinkhole Damage Claims
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Sinkholes are responsible for devastating losses to homeowners and property owners, and exist throughout Florida. Signs of sinkhole activity around a home could include cracks in structures and depressions in the land. However, these signs do not always mean that a sinkhole exists and that the homeowner has a Tampa, Florida sinkhole damage claim under a homeowner’s policy. Our attorneys in Tampa, Florida can provide advice on whether there is coverage under a homeowner’s policy for sinkhole damage sustained to a home or property, and if need be, litigate any disputed issues involving homeowner’s or other coverage. Contact us about serving as your Tampa, Florida sinkhole damage claim lawyer!

Contact a John Bales Tampa Florida Sinkhole Lawyer today! Complete a FREE Online Consultation Form or Call us toll free 1-877-768-9100 24 hours, 7 days a week!

The following provides some background information about sinkholes. Please contact us if you have questions.

In the geologic past, sea level has fluctuated significantly above and below its current elevation. As a result, limestone formations in Florida were exposed at the ground surface and subject to erosion and solutioning by rainwater, which is naturally slightly acidic. The erosion and solutioning caused cracks, cavities, and fractures to form in the limestone – producing a weathered and irregular limestone surface. After subsequent rises in sea level, the undulating limestone surface was buried and filled by younger deposits of clay, sand and silt. Even though the limestone is now covered with soils and clastic sediments, solutioning of the limestone by ground water continues. This chemical action tends to be concentrated along preferential paths for ground water flow such as joints, bedding planes, and pre-existing fractures and voids. The rate of dissolution is an imperceptibly slow process, requiring several thousand years for the formation of significant caverns or voids.

Non-cohesive soils and sediments (sands and silts), which overlie the limestone may move downward, or ravel, into the enlarged voids and cavities. The raveling may propagate upward to the surface as the overlying sediments move downward into the cavity. Sinkholes occur when the raveling reaches a point where the surficial soils cannot support the load at the surface, resulting in collapse or subsidence.

In this part of Florida, sinkholes occur by several mechanisms; cover-collapse, cover-subsidence, limestone-collapse, or limestone-solution (Sinclair et al., 1985). Cover-collapse sinkholes form where a thick, competent and generally impermeable clay layer overlies limestone bedrock. Initially the clay has sufficient strength to bridge a developing cavity in the underlying limestone. A cover-collapse sinkhole occurs as a result of sudden failure of the clay unit and catastrophic downward movement of the overlying sandy soils into the cavity (i.e., raveling). Cover-subsidence sinkholes may form by the gradual downward raveling of non-cohesive sediments (usually sand and silt) into actively forming cavities. The raveling reduces soil density, which is manifested at the surface by an area of slow, gradual, subsidence.

Limestone-collapse and limestone-solution sinkholes typically occur in terrains where limestone bedrock is covered by a relatively thin (25 ft.) layer of soil or overburden (sand and clay). A limestone-collapse sinkhole forms when a solution cavity expands to the point where the limestone roof collapses. The collapse is usually abrupt and sinkhole damage claims may be catastrophic in nature. A significant factor in the formation of limestone-collapse sinkholes is a low water table, typically below the limestone surface. Limestone-collapse sinkholes are relatively rare occurrences since dissolution is more likely to occur at the limestone surface.

Limestone-solution sinkholes form through a mechanism of gradual solutioning of the buried limestone surface under relatively high water table conditions. Surface depressions generally form at a gradual rate as the limestone dissolves, usually without the formation of significant voids or sudden raveling of overlying sediments. Over geologic time this process results in a general, regional lowering of the land surface.

Subsidence investigations usually involve determination of the probability of cover-subsidence or limestone solution sinkholes, since the catastrophic nature of sinkhole damage from cover-collapse and limestone-collapse sinkholes leaves little doubt as to their identity. Because slow, gentle subsidence can result from other mechanisms, such as decay and compaction of buried organic material or movement of shrink/swell clays, identifying cover-subsidence (or limestone solution) sinkhole development as the cause of subsidence-related damage to a structure can be difficult. This is especially true in cases where there are no obvious signs of subsidence at the surface.

A key element in identifying karst activity as the cause of damage is to establish the presence of a raveling zone of soft or loose soils that extends from limestone bedrock sufficiently close to the surface to cause subsidence. Alternatively, significant evidence of downward movement of surficial soils may also be indicative of karst-related subsidence. It should be noted that local zones of circulation loss in SPT borings, isolated soft or loose soil layers, or buried depressions in the clay or bedrock surface, in the absence of significant raveling or other evidence of downward movement of soils, is not necessarily positive evidence of sinkhole activity.

Contact a John Bales Tampa, Florida Sinkhole Lawyer today! Complete a FREE Online Consultation Form or Call us toll free 1-877-768-9100 24 hours, 7 days a week!

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