Why doesn't London just collapse?

inogen · 2 Sep 2022 at 15:30

Feek said:
Fewer [/Stannis]

Indeed

Feek said:
Nobody cares about the south anyway, it's the wrong side of the river.

The sink holes don't help.

FBi7 · 2 Sep 2022 at 15:35

I interpreted the thread title as if the OP was quite put out that it hadn't, yet. :cry:

Columbo · 2 Sep 2022 at 15:39

There's a big tunnel between your ankles so how come you dont collapse?

Malevolence · 2 Sep 2022 at 15:47

I watched a documentary a while back where they said the ground that London is built on is clay, and that's the reason why there are no 'proper' skyscrapers.

dl8860 · 2 Sep 2022 at 16:10

Malevolence said:
I watched a documentary a while back where they said the ground that London is built on is clay, and that's the reason why there are no 'proper' skyscrapers.

Historically maybe clay wasn't ideal for tall buildings but for a long time we've been able to build immense foundations into clay. We have plenty of 'proper' skyscrapers, and the soil isn't the reason why they aren't any bigger than they are.

dlockers · 2 Sep 2022 at 16:15

Maintaining line of sight to St Pauls from the Thames being one of the many reasons.

cu3ed · 2 Sep 2022 at 16:34

Not sure if its exists but would be cool to see a cross section of stuff to see what comes where in the order.

robfosters · 2 Sep 2022 at 16:44

inogen said:
Sinkhole spanning breadth of whole street opens up in London

Police cordon off site in Bexleyheath where hole emerged on Tuesday evening as road began to crack

www.theguardian.com

South of the river is more at risk than north. It's different geologically and topographically, which is why there are less tube lines and the ones that there are often deeper underground.

I live near there. I saw on Facebook that a big hole had appeared but we were told not to worry as the police were looking into it

Thekwango · 2 Sep 2022 at 16:46

robfosters said:
I live near there. I saw on Facebook that a big hole had appeared but we were told not to worry as the police were looking into it

get your coat and get out....NOW! that's just antijoke levels of not funny :cry:

Hagar · 2 Sep 2022 at 17:36

London clay is one of the most investigated strata for geotechnical design, deep foundations and tunnels. Whole theses, manuals and design cases exist and the work is supported by the few cases of collapse that have occurred through issues in the ground.
The clay is quite uniform increasing in strength with depth but it's capacity is limited in practice. Overlain by terrace gravels in areas and underlain by mudstones, very dense sands or chalk.

Owt else?

smilertoo · 2 Sep 2022 at 17:41

one day all of london will just drop into the sea.

fez · 2 Sep 2022 at 17:44

Ritual sacrifices of children.

Scam · 2 Sep 2022 at 17:51

I honestly thought this was going to be another "London is such a knife crime cesspit" meaning why doesn't it just collapse socially and economically

dlockers · 2 Sep 2022 at 17:54

Scam said:
I honestly thought this was going to be another "London is such a knife crime cesspit" meaning why doesn't it just collapse socially and economically

Well with the number of folk ordering Sainsburys deliveries at 7am nowadays I am surprised it hasn't!

ttaskmaster · 2 Sep 2022 at 19:03

delta0 said:
Some very good engineers over the hundreds of years and today.

^This.
We basically calculated the minimum mass necessary for buildings and stuff to be held up above the collapse threshold by the Earth's centrifugal force, and built said stuff according to that.

aVdub · 2 Sep 2022 at 19:17

Make your piles as deep as you can and go up even higher.

Werewolf · 2 Sep 2022 at 19:37

I think the answer to the question is luck, and an increasing reliance on a lot of geological engineers...

GGizmo · 2 Sep 2022 at 20:30

There are tunnels all over the place.

I watch some of explore channels and they sometimes go in to tunnels.

There is a whole underground area under Manchester, I think an abandoned train station, that nobody uses. It's just sat there.

Humans seem to have an obsession with making underground networks.

Mysterae_ · 2 Sep 2022 at 20:32

Lysander said:
When you think about it, there are so many things below London, sewers, rail systems, building foundations, pipes etc etc. Some of the buildings are quite big, as well. There's only so much ground below the floor. How does it all stay up?

Inflation.

Graetzbridge · 2 Sep 2022 at 20:45

Quite buildings in London have collapsed. Tower Hamlets any one?