Subsidence sinkholes in karst terrain are a
common geological hazard, which can lead to natural
disasters in the natural and built environment. Groundwater
ingress is the main factor leading to subsidence. Previous
research has focused on the qualitative analysis of the
influence of groundwater, although limited research into
critical triggering conditions of groundwater has been
undertaken quantitatively. Water seepage into soil is the
starting condition in the development of subsidence sinkholes.
This paper focuses on testing the anti-permeability
strength as the critical triggering condition in the formation
of subsidence sinkholes, and develops a design and methodology
to test its value quantitatively. The methodology is
applied in an industrial park of Guilin, China, to assess the
probability of forming subsidence sinkholes. Results indicate
that there is a low susceptibility to the formation of
subsidence sinkholes under current conditions in the
ground-truth investigation.