Karst terrain is landscape underlain by limestone that has been chemically dissolved by
acidic groundwater, producing subsurface voids that pose risks for sinkholes if the
overlaying soils can no longer support their own weight and collapse. The western counties
of Virginia are heavy in karst due to their natural, geographic boundary of the western Ridge
Province and the eastern Blue Ridge Mountain Range. As a result, the Commonwealth of
Virginia Hazard Mitigation Plan recommends that the Virginia Department of Transportation …

This study proposes the use of a geographic information system (GIS) to create a
susceptibility map, pinpointing regions in the karst counties of Virginia, in particular, along
interstates, most susceptible to future sinkhole development, determined by five factors that
have previously been shown to play a role in the acceleration of sinkhole formation in
Virginia: bedrock type, proximity to fault lines, drainage class, slope of incised river banks,
and minimum soil depth to bedrock. The analysis compares a 1: 24,000 scale map of …