Sinkhole risk in Edmonson County, KY: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 50%
At or near the surface: 50%
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 153 of Edmonson County's 303 square miles on soluble rock, 153 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,635 residents (42 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 268 map points about 1.1 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 Edmonson County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Daviess County, KY, about 59 miles northwest. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Grayson County, KY 17 mi northwest · 60% at surface
Hart County, KY 19 mi east · 89% at surface
Warren County, KY 20 mi southwest · 89% at surface
Barren County, KY 24 mi southeast · 67% at surface
Butler County, KY 26 mi west · 20% at surface
Allen County, KY 33 mi south · 51% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Rocks of Chesterian age, lower part (limestone), Upper Mississippian in age, covering about 37% of the county. Next is the Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis Limestones, undivided at 9%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Edmonson County ranks 40 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 87% of US counties on that measure.