Sinkhole risk in Bartow County, GA: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 62%
At or near the surface: 62%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Bartow County

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 285 of Bartow County's 459 square miles on soluble rock, 285 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 117,508 residents (256 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 360 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Bartow County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Cherokee County, GA, about 21 miles east. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Gordon County, GA 19 mi north · 61% at surface
Cherokee County, GA 21 mi east · under 1% at surface
Floyd County, GA 22 mi west · 64% at surface
Paulding County, GA 22 mi south · under 1% at surface
Pickens County, GA 25 mi northeast · 1% at surface
Cobb County, GA 26 mi southeast · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Knox Group undifferentiated (dolostone (dolomite)), Ordovician-Cambrian in age, covering about 39% of the county. Next is the Conasauga Group; Upper unit; limestone and shale unit at 10%.

Against the rest of Georgia

Bartow County ranks 15 of 159 in Georgia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 91% of US counties on that measure.