Sinkhole risk in Lewis County, KY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 22%
At or near the surface: 22%
Buried under cover: under 1%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 106 of Lewis County's 483 square miles on soluble rock, 104 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,875 residents (27 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 559 map points about 0.9 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 Lewis County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Fleming County, KY, about 21 miles southwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Fleming County, KY 21 mi southwest · 58% at surface
Adams County, OH 21 mi north · 35% at surface
Rowan County, KY 23 mi south · 4% at surface
Carter County, KY 24 mi southeast · 9% at surface
Greenup County, KY 24 mi east · 1% at surface
Mason County, KY 25 mi west · 76% at surface

What Lewis County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Crab Orchard Formation and Brassfield Dolomite, undivided (shale), Silurian in age, covering about 13% of the county. Next is the Bull Fork Formation at 5%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Lewis County ranks 67 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 75% of US counties on that measure.