Crises can strike at any moment and maintenance and engineering managers have to be prepared to hand them as soon as they arise, especially when a sinkhole is swallowing a portion of a commercial or institutional facility.
For all the concern over leaks at the White House, a more pressing problem might be the sinkhole on the North Lawn that appears to be growing by the day.
The pit in the ground, which was first reported by White House correspondents, appears to have opened just outside the press briefing room and deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley’s office, according to a report from the Washington Post.
SInce the sinkhole was first spotted, it has since grown and another sinkhole has opened next to it.
It was not clear what caused the emergence of the White House sinkholes, but the National Park Service tweeted that the recent spate of rain is likely partially to blame.
“We do not believe it poses any risk to the White House or is representative of a larger problem,” NPS spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles wrote in a statement. “The National Park Service has been monitoring the situation and is bringing in some additional experts to help best determine a remedy.”
This Quick Read was submitted by Ryan Berlin, managing editor of Facility Maintenance Decisions.
