Nashville’s underground. Literally.

One thing is true. What goes up must go down. That goes for relationships, that basketball you like to play with and even the city of Nashville.

Recently, a study indicated Nashville is experiencing subsidence — or in simpler terms, the surface level is sinking. Experts continue to debate whether this phenomenon has any urgency. To shed light, we have geologists joining us to talk about what risks subsidence may pose, what causes it and how much human interaction comes into play. We’re also talking about what else is going on underneath our cowboy boots so Olivia Hill with Metro Council and Lipscomb Professor Monica Sartain join our panel to share how energy is transferred through tunnels and pipes and how infrastructure gets us to where we need to go.

This episode was produced by Josh Deepan. Special thanks to Caroline Eggers and Tony Gonzalez. 

GUESTS:

• Manoochehr Shirzaei — Professor of Geophysics, Virginia Tech
• Olivia Hill — Nashville Metro Council at-large
• Monica Sartain — Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Lipscomb University
• Michael Zoccola — retired Geotechnical Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Nashville District)

FURTHER READING: 

• Landslides are a growing threat in Nashville.
• Curious Nashville: Tunnels that live up to the legends, and some that don’t.