SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Rhea County, TN: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock
47%
At or near the surface
47%
Buried under cover
0%

The next step for one property

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 150 of Rhea County's 315 square miles on soluble rock, 150 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 34,759 residents (110 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 519 map points about 0.8 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 Rhea County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Meigs County, TN, about 10 miles southeast, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

What Rhea County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chickamauga Group, includes Upper part of Chickamauga Group (Reedsville Shale, and Unnamed limestone unit) and Middle and Lower part of Chickamauga Group (Moccasin Formation, Bays Formation, Ottosee Shale, Holston Formation, Lenoir Limestone, Athens (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 13% of the county. Next is the Copper Ridge Dolomite at 7%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Rhea County ranks 49 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 87% of US counties on that measure.