Sinkhole risk in Bath County, KY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 39%
At or near the surface: 39%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Bath 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 110 of Bath County's 278 square miles on soluble rock, 110 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,951 residents (47 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 505 map points about 0.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Bath County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Fleming County, KY, about 15 miles north, 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.

Montgomery County, KY 12 mi southwest · 40% at surface
Fleming County, KY 15 mi north · 58% at surface
Menifee County, KY 17 mi southeast · 1% at surface
Rowan County, KY 17 mi east · 4% at surface
Nicholas County, KY 20 mi northwest · 38% at surface
Powell County, KY 24 mi south · 10% at surface

What Bath County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ashlock Formation, Grant Lake and Calloway Creek Limestones, and Fairview Formation, undivided (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 21% of the county. Next is the Crab Orchard Formation and Brassfield Dolomite, undivided at 18%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Bath County ranks 54 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 84% of US counties on that measure.