Quicksand Fans

Hi Y'all,
One of the nearby towns has started doing a beach restoration project along lake erie. they've been dumping a lot of sand and dirt into the water to try and reclaim the beach they lost to erosion, and it's made some REALLY nice quicksand. This stuff will suck you down effortlessly and not let you go, and I really would love to dive in but I'm concerned about a few things.
1) I have no idea how deep it is. They put sand pretty far out into the lake. For all I know, it could be 2 feet of quicksand, or 20.
2) It's right on the lake. most spots have at least an inch of water over them, but the lake has no tides. I'm worried that I could sink too far and drown.
3) It's not very well hidden. Most of the beach is very visible from the upper part of the park, you can see a large part of the beach from the fence.
4) It's technically still an active construction site, there's a big fence but I haven't actually seen any signs that say "keep out" or "no trespassing", so I think I'm safe with that.

if any of yall have advice that would be super cool, I'll probably try to go explore the beach this weekend if nobody says it's dangerous

if its a mixture of dirt and sand you probably have the right conditions of stuck and sunk,
1: if you don't know how deep it is you probably know you should take another person or a stick bigger then you,
2: very much don't walk into the water spots as whatever buoyancy properties the mud has will have will be ignored by the thin layer of water on top,
3 you saying visible should of probably told you this was a bad idea as you will probably have bystanders thinking you need help if they see you, and
4: you sound ridiculously lucky there, legally speaking, but you should assume it being an active construction site that you don't want to be seen, especially by workers

also try to find out what kind of soil is being used, "dirt" is vague and you maybe don't know where the dirt comes from it its left over from something else not meant to be the final layer you would step on once the beach is done

basically i would say its dangerous but only because it sounds like a sand problem, clay and silt can make you bob around your shoulders which is scary if you lose strength, but sand is sand and will suction you so the very unfun level of your waist or tits and we'll be hearing about it on the news very likely if you actually get stuck or a bystander calls for help thinking your stuck (you will be at least a little) and the compression you feel will feel very unsexy

so take a big ass pole or friend and don't run, walk. check to see how sticky and suctiony it is your first steps, and if you can, try to determine the source of the soil, just to make sure it wasn't part of some previous wierd quarry that will burn your skin

and lastly after reading your last post, don't try to force yourself down, it it ends it ends, just move on

Doesn't sound to me like you have to worry about drowning, Biggest issue to me seems to be location. Is there a time you could go when there's less likely to be activity? Like on a weekend early in the morning?

Mynock wrote:Doesn't sound to me like you have to worry about drowning, Biggest issue to me seems to be location. Is there a time you could go when there's less likely to be activity? Like on a weekend early in the morning?

Well luckily I'm used to getting up at 5:00 AM for work so yes I could absolutely go when it's not very busy. I'm also a natural night owl, so I could go incredibly late at night. I'm just overly paranoid that someone will be watching. People like to watch the sunrise and sunset over the lake so that could be an issue, but other than that the park should be pretty clear all day.

gjhkigkhjf wrote:if its a mixture of dirt and sand you probably have the right conditions of stuck and sunk,
1: if you don't know how deep it is you probably know you should take another person or a stick bigger then you,
2: very much don't walk into the water spots as whatever buoyancy properties the mud has will have will be ignored by the thin layer of water on top,
3 you saying visible should of probably told you this was a bad idea as you will probably have bystanders thinking you need help if they see you, and
4: you sound ridiculously lucky there, legally speaking, but you should assume it being an active construction site that you don't want to be seen, especially by workers

also try to find out what kind of soil is being used, "dirt" is vague and you maybe don't know where the dirt comes from it its left over from something else not meant to be the final layer you would step on once the beach is done

basically i would say its dangerous but only because it sounds like a sand problem, clay and silt can make you bob around your shoulders which is scary if you lose strength, but sand is sand and will suction you so the very unfun level of your waist or tits and we'll be hearing about it on the news very likely if you actually get stuck or a bystander calls for help thinking your stuck (you will be at least a little) and the compression you feel will feel very unsexy

so take a big ass pole or friend and don't run, walk. check to see how sticky and suctiony it is your first steps, and if you can, try to determine the source of the soil, just to make sure it wasn't part of some previous wierd quarry that will burn your skin

and lastly after reading your last post, don't try to force yourself down, it it ends it ends, just move on

So I did some research and it seems like most of the dirt was dug up from the bluffs nearby. It's a mix of Clay, Silt and Sand. Also, the suction and compression are my favorite parts. There are plenty of tall sticks I can use to assess the depth, and the last time I was there I did see a couple spots that were decently hidden. I'll have to go again this Friday or Saturday to check it out again, but I'm going to be cautious. I'll be sure to take and send pictures!

Everyone should let someone they trust know where roughly they are going and when they should be back.
Mostly to make it easier if for some reason (not necessarily QS-related) you don't make it back to civilisation.

Assuming you are doing all this solo, that is.

CreamyClayK wrote:So I did some research and it seems like most of the dirt was dug up from the bluffs nearby. It's a mix of Clay, Silt and Sand. Also, the suction and compression are my favorite parts. There are plenty of tall sticks I can use to assess the depth, and the last time I was there I did see a couple spots that were decently hidden. I'll have to go again this Friday or Saturday to check it out again, but I'm going to be cautious. I'll be sure to take and send pictures!

If it's being dumped into Lake Erie to be used as a recreational beach for people it's most assuradly safe to sink in. There's all kinds of environmental laws that would apply there.

Mynock wrote:If it's being dumped into Lake Erie to be used as a recreational beach for people it's most assuradly safe to sink in. There's all kinds of environmental laws that would apply there.

That's also assuming that they took all the debris out, quite a few buildings have fallen into the lake due to erosion over the past couple years, but I can't imagine they'd leave that stuff in there. I plan on going this Friday after work. I'm gonna show up right before sunset to get a general assessment of where a good spot to sink will be, and also how many people are at the park. I'll most likely wait until after dark to sink just to make sure I'm hidden from view, and I'm pretty sure the park never technically closes so I can leave my car there. I'm super excited because this could very well be the deepest spot I've ever found, and at the very least it'll be a large spot to wallow around in and not just a single small pit like the other spots I've found. But I'll try not to get my hopes up just in case. I'll keep you all updated

That does sound really exciting, let us know how it goes. If you're open to sharing where it is, I may check it out the next time I'm in the area!

enerj29 wrote:That does sound really exciting, let us know how it goes. If you're open to sharing where it is, I may check it out the next time I'm in the area!

Bill Stanton Community Park in Madison, if you look it up you'll see why I'm so freaked out about privacy XD. The spots are all very easily visible from a lot of points in the park, so If you go it's gotta be almost 100% empty, or on a Dark Cloudy night like tomorrow is supposed to be.