Sinkhole risk in Washington 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: 42%
At or near the surface: 42%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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 125 of Washington County's 297 square miles on soluble rock, 125 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,269 residents (41 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 283 map points about 1.0 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 Washington County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Nelson County, KY, about 16 miles west, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Marion County, KY 15 mi south · 45% at surface
Nelson County, KY 16 mi west · 56% at surface
Mercer County, KY 17 mi east · 47% at surface
Boyle County, KY 19 mi southeast · 54% at surface
Anderson County, KY 20 mi northeast · 25% at surface
Spencer County, KY 20 mi north · 56% at surface

What Washington County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ashlock Formation, Grant Lake and Calloway Creek Limestones, and Fairview Formation, undivided (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 33% of the county. Next is the Drakes Formation at 8%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Washington County ranks 50 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 85% of US counties on that measure.