Why Are Beach Holes So Deadly?
7.1M views · Apr 1, 2025 · Education
Comments · 4.9K
@PracticalEngineeringChannel · 1 year ago · pinned
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@CivilDefenseEngineer · 1 year ago
"Kids! Stop digging in that sand! Don't you know that sand's shear strength is a complex function of gravity, friction angle, cohesion from saturation and capillary action, complicated by dilatency, surcharge loads, and the angle of repose? Have your mother and I taught you nothing??"
25K
@BBtech0251 · 1 year ago
I’m just going to read the title and assume this is an April Fools joke without watching it. That must mean digging a 50ft deep hole in any beach is completely safe and without any risk!
17K
@williamchase6298 · 1 year ago
Lesson, beware of unlicensed digging contractors who also offer castle building at the same locale. Studies found most contractors average ages only 5 years old.
15K
@mccallosone4903 · 1 year ago
my family once buried me up to my neck, with one arm out, on my knees, at leo carrillo beach. the tide started to come in, and my dad and uncles found my ten year old screams for help this hilarious. it was pretty funny for a few minutes, but then i was getting worried, the waves were over my face, and couldnt dig my way out. finally, my 8 month pregnant aunt got pissed and dragged me out,one handed, like a gawddang superhero. did she ever give my dad and uncles the business too. thanks aunt Kathy!
2.3K
@LindaSchmidt-no1dd · 1 year ago
I'm only a few seconds in, but I love how the "beaches are dangerous - consider the lifeguards" makes it sound as though the lifeguards themselves were an often underestimated source of danger.
6.1K
@kaydotz · 1 year ago
Remember to keep your backfill away from the edge... Having it right next to the hole effectively makes it as deep as the top of the backfill pile
3.3K
@mostawesomestnamever · 1 year ago
As a freshman in college I found myself desperately clawing the sand over where the sand had collapsed over a dorm mate. We were not able to get to him before the fire department dug his lifeless body from the pit. It happens fast and is nothing to play around with.
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@KimTuckerFr · 1 year ago (edited)
When I was about 10 years old, two teenagers (probably 14 or 15) were digging a big hole in the sand. It was so deep that everyone around was amazed, and all the kids wanted to go inside. You even had to queue just to get in for a few seconds.<br><br>When it was my turn, they took my hands, lifted me up and helped me go down. The top of the hole was above my head, and I was standing! My parents told me to sit down just for a picture. I sat there for 10 seconds — it was such a strange feeling, surrounded by sand walls in the bottom of this dark hole, and the small circle of light above my head. No noises, no waves sounds, no kids playing or screaming, all silence... At the bottom of the hole, they had widened the walls so that it looked like the shape of a vase. There was actually plenty of space down there. It was in 1994, at the time we didn't have all that knowledge of how dangerous it could be.<br><br>When you’re 10, you don’t think about what could have happened. But here I am, 30 years later, still thinking about that moment every time I go to the beach. And now I tell my children never to dig a hole that deep.
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@CARTUNE. · 1 year ago
I was in 6th grade when we dug about a 2ft x 8 ft long tunnel at the beach with my soccer team. We were all going under it really fast and just as I went in, someone ran across the top and caved it in on me. I remember first my legs and then seconds later lights out and I couldn't breathe. It took all the Dads from my soccer team to dig me out and I remember my coach grabbing my hair and pulling my head up. lol I'm 30 now and I'll never forget that. It was crazy how heavy that was and I was none the wiser.
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@rayopeongo · 1 year ago
The same risks apply in grain bins. Workers are constantly warned about entering grain bins alone, and EMS folks get special training on how to extract someone who has become stuck.
3.7K
@fidjeenjanrjsnsfh · 1 year ago
Everything's fun and games until someone brings steel matting and anchor stakes to dig a hole.
1.7K
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