The Hazards of Building Roads in
Karst Terrain:
The Dishman Lane Karst Collapse,
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Michael May & Kenneth Kuehn
Western Kentucky University
Dishman Lane
After City of Bowling Green, 2003
Ste. Genevieve
St. Louis
Bowling Green
GQ Base after Thompson, Plauche & Crawford, 2002
Karst Plain Stratigraphy
Mississippian
(Modified from Palmer, 1981)
Girkin
135-140 ft (40-43 m)
Ste. Genevieve
Ste. Genevieve
110-120 ft (34-37m)
110-120 ft (34-37m)
St. Louis
175-200 ft (53-60 m)
Salem
70-90 ft (20-27 m)
Gypsum
View from Park Mammoth near Park City, KY
Mammoth Cave Plateau
Bowling Green
Karst Plain
rings
p
S
ing
p
p
i
r
D
ent
m
p
r
Esca
What is Karst?
•
•
•
•
•
Disappearing Streams
Sinkholes
Underground Streams
Springs
Caves
Western KY Univ. Campus
Civil War Map – Courtesy Kentucky Museum
Lo
st R
ive
Di
sh
rC
ma
ave
nL
Va
lley
an
e
Floodplains on the Karst
Dynamics of Karst Systems
Example: Lost River
Soil Piping Problems Around Drains in Karst Terrain
• Karst
Collapse/Subsidence
• Flooding in Sink Basins
Church
St
at
eT
ro
o
pe
r
Retention Basin
Ca
ve
Bank
Collapse
Zone
East
5m
45 m
Road Surface
Cave Passage
The $1 million repair of the Dishman Lane sinkhole
required removal of loose material down to bedrock.
Photo by Guy Briggs, 8/7/02
Two power shovels load collapsed material
into dump trucks. Contractor installed 200 feet
of 4-foot diameter pipe and filled the hole with
30,000 tons of rip-rap and regolith.
Photo by Guy Briggs, 8/7/02
After City of BG
After City of BG & CCKS, 2003
After City of BG & CCKS
Modified from City of BG, 2003
Church
St
at
eT
ro
o
pe
r
Retention Basin
Ca
ve
Originally Proposed Route
Bank
Collapse
Zone
Dishman Lane - Bowling Green
Preventable? Cost? Liability?
Photo Courtesy Local Pilot
Photo by Hilary Lambert July 2003
Photo by Hilary Lambert July 2003
Hmmm – What will the future
bring for Dishman Lane?