Seattle's Sink Hole #97

By D. E. Harrison

China Town in Seattle, also known as the International District, is about 12 square blocks in the southeast part of Seattle. The entrance has a huge Chinese gate over the four-lane street going into it. It is home to many Asian shops of all kinds.

One morning driving into work about 6:30 am Detective Rage hears a call for patrol cars near China Town. She will drive pass it and responds to the request. Traffic is so congested she drives her jeep up on the sidewalk to get closer to the problem. She dresses in her traffic control gear, grabs a large set of yellow cones, and races up to an officer trying to direct and clear the traffic around the entrance to China Town.
She asks, “Shall I close 4th ave. and send them up 3td.”
“Yes, I have more support coming.”
Returning to her jeep, she directs several officers to do so and returns to the officer at the heart of the problem.

Going deeper into China Town she finds a huge hole where there use to be a 4-lane street. The only thing remaining are the sidewalks in front of several buildings.
The officer there is trying to direct foot traffic out of the area. Rage says she will help clear the buildings next to or close to the hole. Her quick glance shows the hole to be maybe 40 feet deep. Several other officers join her, as they go around the back of the buildings to gain entrance. She shoots open or kicks doors open to gain access. They clear all the buildings on both sides of the hole and then for several more blocks.
Seattle engineers are on their phone trying to get the word out for supplies and people. Few people believe what they are asking for. The Mayor finally walks to the hole and never gets to close. In several hours there are engineers from many places to see if they can help.
An older UW engineer becomes the self-appointed project leader. He gathers up everyone up and goes to the UW to put order into the solving of this problem. Meanwhile the police and fire departments have firm control of the site and laid tape all over the area to control access. Lights are being placed so the area will be as bright as the day when the sun shines in Seattle. One item is apparent, the large pipes are just hanging about 10 feet below the street level, side wall to side wall. How long before they sag and break?

The entire Seattle area for miles was under 3,000 feet of ice, when it melted, it just dropped whatever it was carrying. That what is dropped is called Till. This soil has never had a sink hole reported.
The people at the UW have groups looking into sink holes, ground water in Seattle, ground faults in King County, Indian legends and folklore, and a catch all group for any other possibilities.
Someone mentioned GPR, Ground Penetrating Radar. The groups grab this and hope it will help. The Mayor plans on riding this to his next election.
There are still many issues: Will the hole continue to grow, will it grow in three directions when it gets to an intersection, why has the sidewalks not fallen into the hole, when will the sagging sewer pipes fall and cause a health issue, when will more holes appear and start to eat buildings?
Even Detective Rage and her Colts maybe no match for this hole or holes?

• Language: English
• Publisher: D. E. Harrison
• Release date: Apr 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224736652

D. E. Harrison

I am trained as a theoretical mathematician. I am an emeritus member of the American Mathematical Society for fifty odd years. I have lived in Seattle since 1967. I starting writing fiction after writing a family history.

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Seattle’s Sink Hole #97

By D. E. Harrison

Copyright 2024 by D. E. Harrison

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Going to work

Chapter 2 The Meeting at the UW

Chapter 3 GPR On Site

Chapter 4 Scan the Hole

Chapter 5 Fill the Hole

Epilogue

About D. E. Harrison

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Chapter 1 Going to work

Detective Rage leaves home for work at her normal time of 6:37 am.

She had been a patrolman for several years. She was the first officer to carry a Colt 45s in the entire police force. The police began reviewing their entire small arms procedure after this. It all came about when patrolman Rage riding as a rookie patrolman became involved with a street gang. The situation got out of control and Internal Affairs stuck their nose in after it was all over. You can understand better what and why she carries a Colt 45 as her standard sidearm after reading the ‘13th Street Gang.’

The now rookie homicide Detective Janette Rage has been on the Police force for almost eight years. She is bright, aggressive, and dedicated to the job. She takes a fair amount of ribbing about her last name and the color of her hair. It usually goes on until they see her empty a clip of sixteen rounds at twenty yards into a 4-inch circle. She shoots a competition matched pair of Colt 45s. If that is not enough, she will crack a few ribs, and she will do it again in the gym.

She is a very powerful and attractive young woman with a real bang. She picked the spot she wanted to finish in the final ranking as a patrolman. She is always looking down the road before she jumps. In slow or almost instant decisions, she is way down the road when she makes one. She appears to be a little too quick in judging situations, but she has yet to be shown wrong.

Three years earlier, she had completed the Detective training course at the academy. She finished in second place; the other woman finished twelfth out of the fifteen total candidates. In such a large metropolitan police force, her new duty assignment could have been one of many. She did not know until Monday after graduation her exact assignment.

Just seven days after graduation and four days on the job homicide, Detective Rage shows up for duty, she finds herself in a fatal multiple shooting investigation. The rookie Detective Rage has been involved in more fatal multiple shootings investigations than most see in a lifetime. That does not count the fatal multiple shootings she and her Colts has been personally involved in where they tried to shoot her. A Homicide Detective may be considered a rookie for four years or more.

The wheels turn a little faster in dispatch when they receive a call with shots fired from an officer.

When Rage’s call of shots fired comes in, several additional calls are made. First, SWAT is sent out, then the medics, which are usually not needed, then the Coroner George who is always needed, and finally Inspector Strong is called. Her HLS agent code is JX179.

Driving in, she notices this is the first time it has not been raining in a month. A Seattle road crew is driving to the job site which is the