Sinkhole risk in Box Butte County, NE: No soluble rock mapped

What to do about a house in Box Butte County

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 1,075 square miles, under one square mile of Box Butte County maps onto soluble rock. With about 10,703 residents (10 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 362 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Box Butte County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Dawes County, NE, about 35 miles north, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

• Morrill County, NE 33 mi south · 0% at surface
• Dawes County, NE 35 mi north · 33% at surface
• Sioux County, NE 38 mi northwest · 13% at surface
• Scotts Bluff County, NE 40 mi southwest · 0% at surface
• Sheridan County, NE 42 mi northeast · 2% at surface
• Garden County, NE 57 mi southeast · 0% at surface

Against the rest of Nebraska

Box Butte County ranks 40 of 93 in Nebraska for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• Hamilton County 80%
• Adams County 79%
• Merrick County 79%
• Webster County 78%
• Franklin County 78%