Sinkhole risk in Bristol city, VA: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 89%
At or near the surface: 89%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Bristol city

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

That works out to roughly 12 of Bristol city's 13 square miles on soluble rock, 12 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 16,316 residents (1,267 per square mile), most of the county is built up, so a mapped unit is likely to sit under somebody's street. The figures come from 312 map points about 0.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Bristol city

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Dickenson County, VA, about 37 miles north. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Sullivan County, TN 11 mi southwest · 92% at surface
Washington County, VA 15 mi northeast · 62% at surface
Johnson County, TN 20 mi southeast · 21% at surface
Russell County, VA 22 mi north · 64% at surface
Carter County, TN 23 mi south · 25% at surface
Scott County, VA 26 mi west · 72% at surface

What Bristol city is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Beekmantown Group (dolostone (dolomite)), Ordovician in age, covering about 39% of the county. Next is the Conococheague Formation at 29%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Bristol city ranks 5 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 97% of US counties on that measure.