National Corvette Museum

The National Corvette Museum showcases the Chevrolet Corvette, an American sports car that has been in production since 1953. It is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, off Interstate 65's Exit 28. It was constructed in 1994, and opened to the public in September of that year.[1]

National Corvette Museum
Location within Kentucky
National Corvette Museum (the United States)
EstablishedSeptember 1994
Location350 Corvette Drive
Bowling Green, Kentucky
TypeAutomobile
Websitewww.corvettemuseum.org

The museum is located only a quarter mile from the Bowling Green Assembly Plant, where Corvettes have been made since 1981. Public tours of the assembly plant are unavailable as of June 16, 2017, and GM has given no indication when or if they will resume.[2] Patrons can, through their local Chevrolet dealership, can add package option R8C which can give them a VIP tour of the Corvette Museum and assembly plant and patrons can have the option to build their own engine for their Corvette (this option adds $995 (as of 2020) to the car).[3]

2014 damage

In karst areas, stormwater from roads, streets, parking lots, and roof drainage during heavy rains washes down through natural karst voids in the limestone bedrock, enlarging the voids until they cause the surface to collapse. This forms a sinkhole.[4] After some rainy weather,[5] on February 12, 2014, such a new cover-collapse sinkhole 40-foot-wide and 25-foot-deep opened under the floor of the Skydome area of the museum.[6] Video from the museum's security camera shows the collapse occurring at 5:38 AM local time.[7] Since this did not occur during visiting hours no one was injured although much of the Skydome area concrete floor collapsed.[5] Cars were on display in the yellow cone-shaped Skydome that is a separate structure attached to the main museum.[8] Eight rare and one-of-a-kind Corvettes, portions of the display stands and rails, large concrete floor slabs and dirt fell into the sinkhole, causing serious damage to some of the Corvettes. The Corvettes involved have an estimated value of a million dollars.[5][9] The remaining 20 cars in the Skydome were immediately removed from that area. Between March 3, 2014 and March 6, 2014, 5 of the 8 Corvettes were recovered from the sinkhole. The spire area of the Skydome is being reinforced before work starts on removing the final three buried cars.[10] A drone camera initially investigated inside the sinkhole.[11]:479 A microgravity geophysical survey indicated the possibility of additional voids extending from the main sinkhole toward existing sinkholes to the north and south.[11]:479–480 Exploration in the sinkhole discovered a cave passage 80 feet below the Skydome floor and that this previously unknown cave had an unstable area in its roof that collapsed.[11]:477, 480 To provide independent structural support for the site, 46 micropiles 7 inches in diameter were installed to an average depth of 141 feet to reach competent bedrock. Structural engineering work also included a one-foot thick concrete slab poured on top of the sinkhole debris, then a double layer of metal sheet pilings, and filling with 4000 tons of sand to support a new concrete slab floor.[11]:481 This structural engineering work on the sinkhole was estimated to cost $3.2 million.[12] As this extensive work started, the museum reopened the day after the sinkhole appeared[13] although the Skydome remained closed until September 3, 2015.[14] Then on February 12, 2016 the Corvette Museum opened the “Corvette Cave In” exhibit, an interactive display about the sinkhole collapse, the cars involved, karst landscapes, and more.[15]

Like the Dishman Lane sinkhole collapse[11]:478 in 2002, also in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Corvette Museum sinkhole shows altering the natural stormwater flow greatly accelerates creation of sinkhole collapses.[16]:281[17] Too much soil moisture or too little soil moisture reduces soil strength to result in collapses of soil cavities.[18] Collapse of a soil cavity can trigger the collapse of a cave roof where there are pre-existing weaknesses in the underlying bedrock.[16]:281 Clusters of sinkholes are indicators where additional sinkholes will form:

Sinkhole density is an important factor for determining the area most prone to sinkhole development. Where a closed depression has collapsed into a sinkhole we know that the underlying subsurface contains unstable voids, and possibly a cave system. In areas where active sinkholes have developed there is a greater possibility that a new sinkhole will form (Brezinski, 2004; Zhou, 2003).[19]

The Kentucky Geological Survey provides "Generalized Geologic Map for Land-Use Planning" for many individual Kentucky counties showing where there are clusters of sinkholes.[20]

Hall of Fame

The museum also sponsors the Corvette Hall of Fame for individuals who have been involved with the Corvette automobile and made significant contributions in their respective fields. Each year, from two to four persons are inducted into this select group.

2016

See also

References
  1. Antonick, Mike (2006). Corvette Black Books 1953-2007. MotorBooks International. p. 106. ISBN 9780760328941.
  2. plants.GM.com, Bowling Green Assembly (accessed 20 June 2019)
  3. https://www.corvettemuseum.org/visit/delivery-programs/ National Corvette Museum Delivery Programs (Accessed 20 March 2020)
  4. "Sinkholes". The USGS Water Science School. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  5. Story, Justin; Minor, Robyn (February 12, 2014). "Local contractor will help remove reported $1 million in Corvettes from sinkhole at museum". bgdailynews.com. The Daily News.
  6. Berlin, Jeremy (February 13, 2014). "Kentucky Sinkhole Eats Corvettes, Raises Questions". news.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  7. "Sinkhole Security Camera Footage". corvettemuseum. February 12, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2018 – via YouTube.
  8. Apel, Kara; Sanders, Forrest (February 12, 2014). "Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum swallows 8 vehicles". WSMV News4. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  9. Jeffries, Adrianne (February 12, 2014). "Eight vintage Corvettes swallowed by 40-foot sinkhole inside National Corvette Museum". The Verge. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  10. Jones, Matthew (February 13, 2014). "Corvettes disappear into massive hole". BBC TopGear. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  11. Polk, Jason; North, Leslie; Federico, Ric; Ham, Brian; Nedvidek, Dan; McClenahan, Kegan; Kambesis, Pat; Marasa, Mike (2015). "Cars and karst: investigating the National Corvette Museum sinkhole". Scholar Commons, University of South Florida. National Cave and Karst Research Institute. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  12. Holmes, Jake (October 17, 2014). "Repairing National Corvette Museum Sinkhole to Cost $3.2 Million". MOTORTREND. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  13. Everson, Zach (February 13, 2014). "Corvette Museum Sinkhole Swallows Eight 'Vettes: Watch Them Sink". Aol Travel. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  14. "Grand reopening held for Corvette Museum's Skydome". Louisville Business First. September 4, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  15. "Corvette Cave In Exhibit". corvettemuseum. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  16. Kambesis, P., R. Brucker, T. Waltham, F. Bell, and M. Culshaw. "Collapse sinkhole at Dishman Lane, Kentucky." Sinkholes and Subsidence: Karst and Cavernous Rocks in Engineering and Construction. Springer, Berlin (2005): 277-282.
  17.  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.Newton, John (1987). "Development of sinkholes resulting from man's activities in the Eastern United States, Circular 968" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey Publications Warehouse. Government Printing Office. p. 2. Retrieved November 30, 2018. Under natural conditions, the formation of new sinkholes during a man's lifetime is relatively rare. In contrast, sinkholes induced by man's activities are comparatively abundant.
  18. Reger, James. "Foundation Engineering Problems and Hazards in Karst Terranes". Maryland Geological Survey. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  19.  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey. Doctor, Katarina. "GIS and Spatial Statistical Methods for Determining Sinkhole Potential in Frederick Valley, Maryland, page 100 in Kuniansky, E.L., 2008, U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, Bowling Green, Kentucky, May 27-29, 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5023, 142 p." (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  20. "Generalized Geologic Map for Land-Use Planning". Kentucky Geological Survey Map and Chart. Kentucky Geological Survey. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  21. "Corvette Hall Of Fame Inductees". National Corvette Museum. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.


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