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Geologic anomaly threatens UP track in CA

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Posted by MidlandMike on Sunday, January 6, 2019 10:27 PM

The mud hole could migrate back to the old position.  A typical geologic solution would be to drill an interceptor well to provide a path to vent the gas/fluid to the surface in a controlled manner.  The article seems to indicate some of this was done, but no info on how serious the effort was.  It gets expensive really fast.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Sunday, January 6, 2019 7:50 PM

Wonder if the geologists think UP can relocate tracks to position above where mud hole was first found years ago  ?

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Posted by CMStPnP on Sunday, January 6, 2019 6:06 PM

Why can't they build a suspension bridge over it?

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Sunday, January 6, 2019 12:28 PM

   That's weird.    I never thought of geysers traveling before.  I wonder  if the ground some distance behind the geyser would be stable enough that they could eventually relocate the tracks on that side.

   Also, he said that they didn't expect an earthquake and that seismic activity had decreased.   I think I remember seeing some time ago that earthquakes tended to be preceded by a lack of minor tremors.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, January 5, 2019 3:17 PM

This reminds me of a very interesting and profound quote I read once...

"Geology becomes geography when the geology turns into something man can use.  The trouble is, geology just keeps happening irregardless of mans wishes."

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Geologic anomaly threatens UP track in CA
Posted by zardoz on Saturday, January 5, 2019 1:28 PM

Also threatend are a petroleum pipeline, Verizon fiber-optic cables, and parts of state highway 111.

https://www.livescience.com/63998-mud-pool-creeping-across-california.html

Scroll to the 6th paragraph for the beginning of the segment regarding the tracks.

An interesting video at the end of the article, focusing on the effect the hole is having on the railroad.

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