Sinkhole risk in Staunton 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 Staunton city

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

That works out to roughly 18 of Staunton city's 20 square miles on soluble rock, 18 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 26,361 residents (1,323 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 287 map points about 0.3 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 Staunton city

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Nelson County, VA, about 27 miles south. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Augusta County, VA 4 mi west · 49% at surface
Waynesboro city, VA 11 mi southeast · 69% at surface
Harrisonburg city, VA 22 mi northeast · 85% at surface
Rockingham County, VA 26 mi north · 45% at surface
Nelson County, VA 27 mi south · under 1% at surface
Albemarle County, VA 29 mi east · 0% at surface

What Staunton city is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Beekmantown Group (dolostone (dolomite)), Ordovician in age, covering about 43% of the county. Next is the Edinburg Formation, Lincolnshire and New Market Limestones at 22%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Staunton city ranks 6 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 96% of US counties on that measure.