Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK Shrink-Swell Risk

Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK: USDA's soil survey rates 99.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (0.9% linear extensibility). Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

What Kenai Peninsula Borough's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Kenai Peninsula Borough can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK rating "Low", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK is the 2,938-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Alaska alone it ranks 6 of 11. Kenai Peninsula Borough covers 16,018 square miles and counts 61,259 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Utah County, UT and Dakota County, NE are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil

More of Alaska

Every county in Alaska is on this site, including Copper River Census Area, AK and Bristol Bay Borough, AK. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.