Weird giant holes near my house

about a week/two weeks ago (as of 5/11) some workmen started digging some massive holes in a field across from my house that is to become a housing development in the future.

but first, some background. the feild is situated at the end of a approximately 50 yard long stub road. My house is directly across from the stub road. About, i dunno, 3 or 4 years ago the land was bought and the field, a fallow farmer's field, was graded somewhat and a mound of dirt at the end of the stub road was levelled (not really impt). it sat like that for a long time, until almost a year ago i would guess. then, some workmen started to grade to put dirt roads in. thru the center of the field they made a road. in a kind of low spot in the road near the middle of the field they piled two mounds of dirt, one on each side of the road. (i ahev some pictures of it in this state if anyone is interested enought i'll upload them ) there were some other roads bu they are irrelevant. so it stayed like that until about two weeks ago.

thats when i went over there to look around because i heard the machinery going. what i found was the low spot and two piles of dirt had dissapeared and in their place was a large, low mound of dirt approximatley perindicular to where the road used ot be. in the genral vicinity were several deep, single-scoop gashes in random places. note: i was not there to use/vandalize/turn on machinery. the next day, i went back and found a huge hole just in front of the mound of dirt from the day before, only now the mound was higher. this hole was approx. 15 to 20 feet deep, 30 feet long, and 20 feet wide. i had no accurate way of getting measurments i just guessed. finding this interesting i went back to my house to get my brother and a rope, one of the sides was slightly slanted, and i thought it would be neat to climb down in there. but i wasn't sure if i could get out. so i got my brother to potentially hold the rope to help me climb out. (turns out i didn't need it) more pics can go here.

this next paragraph is irrelevant to my point, but it is interesting. we then go the bright idea to climb down a vertical side, like rock climbing. we didn't have any of the right gear except this rope. so after dinner we went back out there, with my mom and dad insisting to come and see this hole. i shot some movies with my digital camera but they didn't come out right (too dark) and i really don't want to upload them over 56k. anyway, we were successful and it was fun. after seeing it my mom speculated that it might be a swimming pool, but no hard evidence.

so maybe two days later i go back out and now the hole is nearly 60 feet long! at this point i have no idea of what it could be and i was tempted to go out there one day while they were working and ask them but i never did. so, two/three days after that i go out there again and THE ENTIRE THING IS FILLED UP so that it is only about half its original depth. WTF?!? but wait, there's more. over the next 2 days they fill it in completely without obviously touching the giant dirt pile next to it with a grader. the, about two days ago, they dig another hole about the same depth but shorter and a little thinner very close to the original! and then today i noticed it too was filled in!

does anybody have any ideas as to what they are doing? anyone in the construction business? i think they might be burying radioactive/toxic wastes but that's just a guess (SARCASM) the machinery they have been using consists of 1 digger? don't knwo technical name, it has a scoop in the front, sits on treads, two volvo dump trucks, a grader, and three bulldozers, 2 of them caterpillars and the other i think a volvo.

any ideas?

The picks will help, also what country are you in?
Does sound like they are burying something if the soil removed to make the holes isn't being used to fill them back in. Are you sure they aren't digging foundations for a building or for a basement before building a house.

Sounds to me like they might be replacing the soil with a better-holding material (stronger foundation). The current soil might be too weak to hold the weight of a house or something. Just my guess

Edit: That or they were digging for some type of line (ie gas, water, etc) if there's anything running through the middle of the field. Could be locating it for when they begin.

[Edited on 11-5-2004 by pyxsul]

Did you hear any gun shots during the night?

I hear Bush is diciplining his troops for screwing up so much during an election year. You may start to smell something bad from there soon....

sounds like people are interested. alright i will try to upload the pics i've never done it before so it might take me awhile also they are 3.2 megapixel so they are pretty big i will to size them down.. i live in the us north carolina to be exact.

Someone must be trying to dig a hole to China...

The whole thing can be simply answered, if you'd have simply gone up to them, and asked the workers what they were doing.
You're a kid right?
Most people enjoy answering questions to young inquisitive minds, especially those who live nearby.
Bring them over a couple of pops, next time you see 'em working, and ask a few questions.

If they are tight lipped and answer nothing, then It's time to speculate on some huge conspiracy, but I myself doubt they'd be stupid enuff to dump toxic chemicals or waste, close to peoples homes.......in plain sight.

If they kidnap you, or bury you with the chemicals, we here in this forum, will no doubt have one helluva exciting thread to read as the saga unfolds!!!!!
Just pulling yer leg.
Simply ask a few questions to the workers, or call the local developement office in town. Any kind of developement, will require permits, and if it's legit, they'll know.
Peace.

Originally posted by pyxsul
Sounds to me like they might be replacing the soil with a better-holding material (stronger foundation). The current soil might be too weak to hold the weight of a house or something. Just my guess

You got it. Soil is unstable or expansive. A discription of the soil conditions would be helpfull. If you see anyone out there using some sort of tool that they press against the ground then they are probaly testing moisture and compaction. Did they drive over the fill and compact it as they were filling up the hole?

Depending on where you are at, the zoning committees require that you put in septic tanks--which may be as big as a pool, depending on what they build here--also could be part of a sub-division sewage treatment system...