Sinkhole risk in Covington County, AL: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 67%
At or near the surface: 4%
Buried under cover: 63%

What to do about a house in Covington County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 685 of Covington County's 1,031 square miles on soluble rock, 37 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 37,748 residents (37 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 364 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Covington County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Geneva County, AL, about 39 miles east, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Coffee County, AL 29 mi east · 2% at surface
Conecuh County, AL 34 mi west · 16% at surface
Crenshaw County, AL 34 mi north · 30% at surface
Butler County, AL 38 mi north · 25% at surface
Geneva County, AL 39 mi east · 51% at surface
Escambia County, AL 43 mi west · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Jackson Group undifferentiated (clay or mud), Eocene in age, covering about 34% of the county. Next is the Oligocene Series undifferentiated at 29%.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Alabama

Covington County ranks 45 of 67 in Alabama for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 61% of US counties on that measure.