Sinkhole risk in Lawrence County, AL: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 60%
At or near the surface: 60%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Lawrence County

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

That works out to roughly 413 of Lawrence County's 691 square miles on soluble rock, 413 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 33,567 residents (49 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 336 map points about 1.4 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 Lawrence County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Winston County, AL, about 26 miles south. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Winston County, AL 26 mi south · 0% at surface
Limestone County, AL 27 mi northeast · 50% at surface
Morgan County, AL 28 mi east · 56% at surface
Colbert County, AL 30 mi northwest · 60% at surface
Franklin County, AL 30 mi west · 31% at surface
Lauderdale County, AL 32 mi northwest · 37% at surface

What Lawrence County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Bangor Limestone (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 32% of the county. Next is the Tuscumbia Limestone at 22%.

Against the rest of Alabama

Lawrence County ranks 5 of 67 in Alabama for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 90% of US counties on that measure.