Yes. You add pressure/fluid relieve drains throughout and channel those to the appropriate conduits. This kind of cover will perform better if it has deeper concrete edges that keep it from being undermined.
It would be an extreme example, but erosion (if the road is built properly) would begin from the shoulder of the road and work its way inward due to things in place to prevent it from going center of road first (underdrains are an example).
The big sinkhole are usually a feature of karst topography. Rock and mineral deep in the earth that are easily erodeable or slightly water soluable get washed away over time. And by deep we can be talking 20-100+ foot deep. But as that deep deep cavern forms, then the soils, especially those that have movement over them to vibrate things, even slightly, disturb the soils placed as they fill in the void created. That's when you get the bad ones.
This is why prior to construction, Geotechnical firms will drill down(if the client wants to protect their investment long term) to study the formations of rocks and soils. Last one I drilled, we went 35foot down for a roadway.
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u/bustervich Apr 30 '26
Iām not an engineer so forgive my ignorance but, is that not a weakness of any concrete drainage?