Sinkhole risk in Woodford County, KY: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 99%
At or near the surface: 99%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Woodford County

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

That works out to roughly 187 of Woodford County's 190 square miles on soluble rock, 187 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 27,728 residents (146 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 255 map points about 0.9 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 Woodford County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Wolfe County, KY, about 71 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Anderson County, KY 13 mi west · 25% at surface
Franklin County, KY 15 mi northwest · 47% at surface
Jessamine County, KY 15 mi southeast · 93% at surface
Fayette County, KY 16 mi east · 95% at surface
Mercer County, KY 17 mi southwest · 47% at surface
Scott County, KY 19 mi northeast · 57% at surface

What Woodford County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Lexington Limestone (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 91% of the county. Next is the High Bridge Group at 8%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Woodford County ranks 1 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.