The Chamber of Geological Engineers of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), which prepared a report on the Ankara - İzmir High Speed Train, which is planned to be opened in 2022, warned against the formation of potholes in the Eskişehir part of the line.
In the statement made in the room, it was stated that the project faces the pothole risk, and it was stated that "A certain part of the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train route has been passed through the evaporitic rocks that melt and lead to pothole formations".
In the statement made by the chamber, he said: “Every year in the world and in our country, earthquake, landslide, floods, rock falls, etc. due to natural and geological reasons. Many dangerous and large-scale nature-related events that can cause loss of life and property occur. One of these events is the sinkhole formations, which have been on our agenda in recent years.
Formation of the sinkhole is generally caused by the movement of groundwater or various types of water flowing through the surface of the geological units that dissolve (carbonated rocks, evaporites), and large caves or melt cavities occur underground as a result of the inability to carry the weight, and the upper cover layer collapses suddenly. ..
In Konya, Karapınar, Sivrihisar (Eskişehir), especially Karaman, Aksaray, Çankırı, Sivas, Kahramanmaraş, Şanlıurfa, Afyonkarahisar, Siirt, Manisa and İzmir occur in many regions. One of the main reasons for the increase of pothole formations in recent years is excessive and uncontrolled groundwater use.
In the region between Sivrihisar (Eskişehir) district Sığırcık, Göktepe, Kaldirkoy and Yenikoy villages, 2 sinkholes with diameters between 50 m and 0.5 m and depths between 15 m and 8 m have occurred in the last few years. According to the observations made in the field and later studies on satellite images; It is necessary to take urgent precautions for this region, where the pothole is formed, to be located just 1.5 km south of the Polatlı-Afyon part of the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Route, which is under construction.
It has been determined that a certain part of the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train route passes over the evaporitic rocks that melt and lead to sinkhole formations. It is of great importance that the geological-geotechnical studies of the route, where an important engineering structure such as High Speed Train passes, will be carried out in a way that will also reveal the reasons that cause the formation of sinkhole.
As TMMOB Chamber of Geological Engineers, we have drawn attention to geological problems, especially landslides, on the High Speed Train (YHT) route, which is under construction between Ankara and Istanbul. However, TCDD General Directorate did not consider our warnings; As a result, with the Decision of the Council of Ministers, contractors have been given a price increase at rates exceeding 40% of the project construction price. Due to this unpredictability, which wasted public resources, the construction of the Ankara-İstanbul YHT (primarily Bozüyük-Arifiye) route has not been completed yet.
Similarly; Our warnings that many problems arising from the ground will be faced during the construction process of Istanbul 3rd Airport due to reasons such as the location selected includes many natural or artificial lakes and weak engineering characteristics of the ground units, and has been ignored by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. However, the process has justified our Chamber, and the construction of Istanbul 3rd Airport has been partially completed, which has the same qualities in the world, with costs far above similar projects.
Due to the fact that the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train route passes approximately 1.5 km north of the area where the sinkholes are formed by the Chamber of Geological Engineers of TMMOB, the public today will be able to avoid any loss of life or property that cannot be compensated for in the future. In order to inform and alert relevant and responsible public institutions, a report on the formation and risks of potholes was prepared on the Eskişehir-Sivrihisar YHT route.
As TMMOB Chamber of Geological Engineers, we warn you once again.
- MTA General Directorate, DSİ General Directorate and AFAD Presidency, by emphasizing the importance of the subject, together with the relevant departments of universities and related professional organizations, especially the Chamber of Geological Engineers of TMMOB, have started to pose a threat to life and property safety in our country within a certain plan, “Obruk Risk Maps” should be prepared by conducting detailed geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological and engineering geology investigations and researches of the regions.
- The Obruk Risk Maps to be prepared should be made available to the public and necessary measures should be taken.
- Research, planning and construction of engineering structures, taking into account the formation of the sinkhole, which is increasing in number in the region, and all persons, institutions and organizations that carry out planning and engineering services in this region, especially the Republic of Turkey, General Directorate of State Railways, which is carrying out Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train project. processes.
- It should be demonstrated that the Izmir-Ankara High Speed Train Project, which is under construction of the TCDD General Directorate, will be affected by the possible sinkhole formations of the high-speed train project by renewing the geological-geotechnical, hydrogeological and engineering geology surveys in the sections of the Polatlı-Afyon route near the areas where the sinkhole formations are seen. Otherwise, it is obvious that the sinkholes that may occur during operation will threaten life safety.
As a result, in the statement that the sinkholes were formed in agricultural areas far from residential areas, it did not cause significant life and property losses until today, as a last word, “sink formations that may occur in areas where engineering structures such as High Speed Train will be intensively used by people will lead to significant casualties and new disasters. it can open ”.
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