Question: There was a lot of controversy during building of the W.T. Library on the UK campus involving “sink holes.” What was the problem and why are they so prevalent in Fayette County?
Answer: In a 1998 Herald-Leader article about the building of the Young Library, we wrote that because of the location chosen for the library – a high spot between two sinkholes – site preparation entailed burying 202 steel-reinforced concrete caissons deep into the soil to prevent sinking.
A November 1994 article said that the new library was to be built on a slight hill, between two sinkholes, that would remain as a green space. The article reported that at a public hearing, retired geologist Ed Wilson said that building the library between two sinkholes made no sense. But UK’s own geologist disputed claims that the site was not suitable for the new library.
We contacted a spokesperson for the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) to find out if there are sinkholes are in our area and what causes them. According to our expert, Jim Cobb, State Geologist and Director, any where you have sufficient rainfall and soluble bedrock like limestone, you will have sinkholes, and Fayette County is sitting on a fairly pure limestone base.
Sinkholes develop along fractures in the rock and all the volume missing from a sinkhole has been transported as sediment underground by the stream or water flow. One of the larger sinkholes in Lexington is McConnell Springs and another good sized one is on Clays Mills Road by the Jesse Clark Middle School.
There are around 148,000 mapped sinkholes in Kentucky, according to the KGS, but there are many more unmapped and uncounted, some that are too small to show up on a map.
The Geological Survey has planning maps that can help developers and construction contractors avoid costly mistakes from sink holes, landslides, and seismic hazards.
The KGS Web page with a map showing sinkholes can be found at:
http://kgsmap.uky.edu/website/KGSGeology/viewer.asp
On the right side of the page click on Karst Potential Map which lists sinkhole data.
Also, there is a publication on the web site titled “Kentucky is karst country! What you should know about sinkholes and springs: Kentucky Geological Survey, ser. 12, Information Circular 4, 29 p.
Website:
http://www.uky.edu/KGS/water/general/karst/karstgis.htm
Linda Niemi
Filed under: Uncategorized
My mother was a public school librarian. I earned a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Kentucky. The Herald-Leader hired me as a news assistant 25 years ago; soon after, I moved to the news research department, where I’ve been ever since. We used to clip newspapers. Now, almost all of our research is online. We've come a long way. 