The Lurking Danger of Sink Holes

Yesterday on I-24 north of Chattanooga, TN a giant sink hole suddenly opened up that was 25 feet wide, 25 feet long, and 20 feet deep. Luckily no one was hurt but this got us thinking... What are the chances of this happening in your back yard?

Sink holes occur when the rock below the land surface is limestone , salt beds or a rock that can naturally be dissolved by groundwater.  Caverns begin to develop as the rock below erodes thereby weakening the structural support of the rock. When these caverns get too big the land suddenly collapses, taking everything on top with it.

 The most damage from sinkholes tends to occur in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania.While Georgia does not have a lot of the susceptible rock
we are not out of the clear yet! Many of the recent sinkholes are man made and are related to poor land use practices such as changing the natural water drainage patterns.
  Sink holes don't have to be enormous to be destructive they can be just a few feet wide in your backyard.

Here are a few signs that you might have a sinkhole forming...
1. Cracks in interior joints around doors or windows,
2. Large depressions in your yard or street
3. Deep cracks and separation of paved walks and streets.
4. Sediment in your water
5. Observation of an actual cavity forming.
If you see any of these symptoms contact a landscape professional.
(ga.water.usgs.gov , sinkhole.org)