Sinkhole risk in Caldwell County, KY: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 74%
At or near the surface: 74%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 256 of Caldwell County's 345 square miles on soluble rock, 256 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,611 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 511 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Caldwell County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Hopkins County, KY, about 21 miles northeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Lyon County, KY 15 mi southwest · 58% at surface
Crittenden County, KY 19 mi northwest · 66% at surface
Hopkins County, KY 21 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Trigg County, KY 24 mi south · 75% at surface
Christian County, KY 27 mi southeast · 87% at surface
Livingston County, KY 27 mi west · 54% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis Limestones, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 34% of the county. Next is the Rocks of Chesterian age, upper part at 21%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Caldwell County ranks 21 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 93% of US counties on that measure.