Sinkhole risk in Hart County, KY: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 89%
At or near the surface: 89%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 367 of Hart County's 413 square miles on soluble rock, 367 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 19,923 residents (48 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 282 map points about 1.2 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 Hart County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Daviess County, KY, about 72 miles northwest. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Green County, KY 19 mi east · 88% at surface
Larue County, KY 19 mi northeast · 78% at surface
Edmonson County, KY 19 mi west · 50% at surface
Barren County, KY 24 mi south · 67% at surface
Metcalfe County, KY 26 mi southeast · 57% at surface
Hardin County, KY 27 mi north · 89% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis Limestones, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 52% of the county. Next is the Rocks of Chesterian age, lower part at 35%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Hart County ranks 10 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 96% of US counties on that measure.