Roberts County, SD Shrink-Swell Risk

What Roberts County, SD's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Roberts County, SD's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.71% across 66.5% of the county's surveyed land. Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Roberts County, SD at once, not any single address. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Roberts County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Roberts County, SD rating "Moderate", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.

Roberts County's rank among South Dakota counties

Nationally, Roberts County, SD is the 721-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Dakota alone it ranks 46 of 66. The county spans 1,101 square miles, home to 10,283 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Throckmorton County, TX and Seward County, KS are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil

More of South Dakota

Every county in South Dakota is on this site, including Miner County, SD and Brown County, SD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.