Lewis County, KY Shrink-Swell Risk
Lewis County, KY's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Lewis County, KY: USDA's soil survey rates 81.2% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.08% 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 Lewis County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Lewis County 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 Lewis County, KY 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, Lewis County, KY is the 1,908-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kentucky alone it ranks 86 of 120. Lewis County, KY is 483 square miles with a population of 12,875.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Morgan County, IL and Kalamazoo County, MI 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 Kentucky
Every county in Kentucky is on this site, including Hickman County, KY and Carroll County, KY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.