Sinkhole risk in Lexington city, VA: Sinkhole country
Sinkhole country
Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.
- On soluble rock
- 100%
- At or near the surface
- 100%
- Buried under cover
- 0%
What to do about a house in Lexington city
Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.
That works out to roughly 2 of Lexington city's 2 square miles on soluble rock, 2 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,802 residents (3,122 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 451 map points about 0.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.
Read next: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.
Counties around Lexington city
The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Amherst County, VA, about 19 miles southeast. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.
- Rockbridge County, VA 2 mi north · 57% at surface
- Buena Vista city, VA 6 mi southeast · 75% at surface
- Amherst County, VA 19 mi southeast · under 1% at surface
- Botetourt County, VA 24 mi southwest · 49% at surface
- Bath County, VA 25 mi northwest · 24% at surface
- Covington city, VA 30 mi west · 26% at surface
Which formation it is
The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Edinburg Formation, Lincolnshire and New Market Limestones (limestone), Ordovician in age, covering about 100% of the county.
Against the rest of Virginia
Lexington city ranks 1 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.
- Salem city 100%
- Roanoke city 98%
- Winchester city 90%
- Bristol city 89%
- Staunton city 89%