Sand Tunnel Collapses on Beachgoer, Killing Him

[NJmike PE]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/Collapsing-Sand-Hole-Kills-Man-at-Half-Moon-Bay-Beach-268170202.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_NYBrand

A man was killed at a Bay Area beach on Monday after a giant hole he was digging in the sand collapsed and buried him, according to fire officials.

Officials say the man was standing in a 10-foot deep "tunnel" when the sand started caving in around him.

angle of repose for typical beach sand approx. 38 degrees, not a vertical wall. sad, unfortunate story.

 

[matt267 PE]

This seems to happen, somewhere, every summer. It's very sad.

 

[Road Guy]

I thought this was the onion for a moment....

I've never been able to dig more than 3 feet at the beach without it either falling in or filling with water...

 

[NJmike PE]

yeah, 10 feet is pretty impressive with just a shovel

 

[csb]

OSHA is going to fine the **** out of his family.

 

[goodal]

My son was doing this at Destin last week. Never got more than a couple feet in without it collapsing. He kept blaming it on his little brother, instead of his poor choice of building materials.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

angle of repose for typical beach sand approx. 38 degrees, not a vertical wall. sad, unfortunate story.

But does that angle account for saturated conditions? Wet sand has a much higher angle because of the natural electromagnetism of water. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to build things like this:

 

[NJmike PE]

angle of repose for typical beach sand approx. 38 degrees, not a vertical wall. sad, unfortunate story.

But does that angle account for saturated conditions? Wet sand has a much higher angle because of the natural electromagnetism of water. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to build things like this:

negative. loose beach sand

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

You can't assume the sand 10' down is dry and loose, as we all know it's saturated within only a foot or two of the surface. That's not to say that exposing said sand to the atmosphere didn't dry it out to make it unstable though...

 

[Road Guy]

we always bring portland cement and fly ash on our beach trips

 

[goodal]

:laugh: :laugh:

 

[iwire]

sad...

when i was a kid, I always wanted to build a tunnel on the beach. But I always ended up in the water snorkeling ..

 

[DVINNY]

My son was doing this at Destin last week. Never got more than a couple feet in without it collapsing. He kept blaming it on his little brother, instead of his poor choice of building materials.

Hey, I was just in Destin Last week.

 

[goodal]

Cool. Where did yall stay? We were at the Sandpiper Cove Condos.

 

[DVINNY]

In-laws own a house on Gulf Shore Drive, we stayed in it. Very nice beach, white sand, beautiful place

 

[DVINNY]

Drove through Tennessee to get there and back, stayed in Knoxville on the way down, but drove all the way home on way back (over 19 hour trip, due to truck wreck in a tunnel a few miles in front of us)

 

[Wolverine]

Never, never, never go into a hole higher than your head.

 

[engineergurl]

Never, never, never go into a hole higher than your head.

but what if you are going into one head first?

 

[matt267 PE]

Never, never, never go into a hole higher than your head.

but what if you are going into one head first?

You just need to know when to pull out in time.

 

[knight1fox3]

^ but at that speed, is it possible? :huh: