Wait - is the whole drainage thing just a large metal tube? It looks thin. Shouldnāt something that big be concrete or something?
āDrain failureā or āInchoate cthonic hunger ancient beyond imaginingā?
Can you really afford the risks of optimism here?
One too many flushes on a āifyā sewage system, seen that before.
Seems this has happened before. Lots. Just Google āculvert failsā.
My guess is the guy with the brand new BMW who parked far away from everyone else made out okay.
I did and found this. Not sure how it relates.
That one car thatās just inches from the edge. Can you imagine being that guy?
No. I am never that guy. I am that guy at the bottom of the pile.
You clearly typed too fast @Mister44, and got the less popular meme āculver failā instead.
I am quite impressed by this video from 2008, where floodwaters eat a culvert in Maine for lunch: http://youtu.be/NTbhyHNA1Vc
How many years will we have to wait before we have drone footage of a culvert collapse in progress, I wonder?
I like the related pancake posts
Engineering fail! No, a giant tube of corrugated metal without reenforcement cannot hold up a parking lot of cars. It was great while it lasted, but people had to learn it the hard way. Iāve got to wonder who signed off on this.
At least the cops are there to arrest the offender. Youāre drunk, parking lot! Go home!
All the red you see on the ground was the reinforcement arch above the corrugated tube, you can see the intact arch at one end. it failed and the water ate that shit for breakfast. 
never underestimate water
In order: Yes. It is pretty thin. In my opinion, yes. If you donāt build it using concrete pipe, you at least need to check that the damned thing is in good shape and not full of perforations before you build a new parking lot on top of it. The vibratory rollers used to compact asphalt are destroyers of crap underground piping. Itās also not buried deep enough to accept the kind of loading a parking lot has to offer. Looks like 3-4ā of cover, thatās bare minimum for a pipe in a grassy field.
@popobawa4u: Oddly enough, Iām familiar with this small city, and this part of Mississippi (long story), and from what Iāve seen thereās a lot of anti-intellectualism, anti-government sentiment and anti-federal-government sentiment, especially toward the EPA. Iāve been to parts of central Mexico that were less third worldly. At any rate, a big part of me highly doubts a qualified engineer reviewed the plans prior to construction. And more often than not, plans for chain restaurants and stores are turned out by some corporate consultant 5 states away, not a local engineer whoās actually visited the project site. Also, giving you a <3 for the drunk parking lot quip.
There is literally no context in which this statement is not true.
I donāt think he can necessarily call it a win. For sure I am not pulling my tow truck up right behind him to help him out of there.
i think thereās a metaphor buried here, but iām not sure what it is.
Use a nice long winch on a heavy-enough truck that it can take the weight of the car without getting pulled down too if the car goes. All is takes is one human coming from the most stable side, taking 30 seconds to fasten the winch.
You seem to know a lot about laying pipe. Are you an engineer?
That sounds dirty. Maaayyyybe.
