Sinkhole risk in Warren 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 482 of Warren County's 542 square miles on soluble rock, 482 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 147,936 residents (273 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 254 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Warren County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is McLean 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.

Edmonson County, KY 20 mi northeast · 50% at surface
Simpson County, KY 20 mi southwest · 99% at surface
Butler County, KY 20 mi northwest · 20% at surface
Allen County, KY 21 mi southeast · 51% at surface
Logan County, KY 27 mi west · 93% at surface
Barren County, KY 27 mi east · 67% at surface

What Warren County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis Limestones, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 59% of the county. Next is the Rocks of Chesterian age, lower part at 26%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Warren County ranks 11 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 96% of US counties on that measure.