Sinkhole risk in Chesterfield County, VA: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 2%
At or near the surface: 2%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Chesterfield County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 10 of Chesterfield County's 424 square miles on soluble rock, 10 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 389,793 residents (920 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 544 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Chesterfield County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Hertford County, NC, about 78 miles southeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Richmond city, VA 12 mi northeast · 9% at surface
Colonial Heights city, VA 13 mi southeast · 12% at surface
Petersburg city, VA 16 mi southeast · 17% at surface
Henrico County, VA 16 mi east · 7% at surface
Hopewell city, VA 17 mi east · 14% at surface
Dinwiddie County, VA 21 mi south · under 1% at surface

What Chesterfield County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chesapeake Group (sand), Tertiary in age, covering about 1% of the county. Next is the Lower Tertiary Deposits at 1%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Chesterfield County ranks 73 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 59% of US counties on that measure.