Sinkhole risk in Russell County, VA: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 64%
At or near the surface: 64%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Russell County

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

That works out to roughly 305 of Russell County's 474 square miles on soluble rock, 305 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 25,420 residents (54 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 495 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Russell County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Dickenson County, VA, about 20 miles northwest. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Washington County, VA 15 mi southeast · 62% at surface
Dickenson County, VA 20 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Bristol city, VA 22 mi south · 89% at surface
Buchanan County, VA 23 mi north · 0% at surface
Wise County, VA 29 mi west · 9% at surface
Norton city, VA 29 mi west · 40% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Knox Group (dolostone (dolomite)), Cambrian-Ordovician in age, covering about 22% of the county. Next is the Nolichucky and Honaker Formations at 17%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Russell County ranks 15 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 91% of US counties on that measure.