Trees sit precariously on the ground near a sinkhole that has developed just off Shiloh Road.

VALDOSTA — Shiloh Road could be in danger from a large sinkhole, county officials said Wednesday.

The sinkhole developed Tuesday evening, according to a county spokesperson, but does not appear to be a threat to local property owners.

Shiloh will be closed for the next several days.

“The engineering staff will have to wait for there to be a period of inactivity,” said Lowndes County Clerk Paige Dukes. “We’ll bring in geologists to do sonar on the roadway and the right-of-way next to the roadway to make sure the road bed is not affected before we can reopen.”

Dukes said the activity of the sinkhole is ongoing and must be watched.

“None of the structures right now seem to be close enough to the activity for there to be a problem,” Dukes said. “Right now, it looks like the activity is moving closer to the road, versus any homes.”

Dukes said county officials are concerned about the sinkhole, as no insurance is available to protect against sinkholes.

County leaders said they hope activity of the sinkhole will cease soon to avoid any potential damage to the road.

“We hope that the activity will be contained to the pond area, but it is a possibility that it could extend to the right-of-way and affect the road,” Dukes said,

Dukes said the county has funding available to repair the road, if it is needed.

“A couple of years ago, when we had the repair on Snake Nation Road, that repair was a two-step process,” Dukes said. “We thought the activity had stopped, there was the materials that were suggested by scientists to placed in the hole to stop it, and it fell in again, which required that entire road to be rerouted.”

The sinkhole on Snake Nation Road, discovered in 2010, was on the same fault line as the sinkhole on Shiloh, Dukes said.

The 2010 sinkhole damaged a portion of the road.

Dukes said sinkholes are not uncommon in the area.

“We only see one every year. Sometimes they are far enough off the right-of-way that we don’t have to close off the road. Of course, these are things that our public works and engineering staff find as they go through and inspect the infrastructure on their normal route,” she said.

Dukes said the county does not know how many sinkholes may develop in forests or in private property, but county staff finds one per year.

No buildings or personal property has been damaged by the sinkhole, and no injuries have been reported, she said.

The road will remain closed, and both Lowndes County and property owners have requested that individuals refrain from taking a look.