Iconic US Double Arch Landmark Collapses Hours After Haunting Video Is Taken
A significant geological feature in Arizona, the Double Arch at Lake Powell, collapsed following a dramatic incident that was captured in a video just hours before the event. This beautiful structure, commonly known as the “Toilet Bowl,” had been under scrutiny for erosion and instability due to natural weathering and changing water levels. On August 8, 2024, while a group of boaters and swimmers were nearby, rocks began to fall from the arch, and moments later, it completely crumbled into the lake. Eyewitnesses described hearing a massive splash and witnessing debris the size of a Volkswagen tumbling into the water. The sudden collapse caused chaos among people in the area, with some just having been in the vicinity of the arch. The National Parks Service indicated that the arch’s deterioration had been ongoing and attributed environmental factors as contributors to its failure. The loss of such a landmark will be felt within the community and by visitors for many years to come.
An iconic landmark in Arizona has collapsed just hours after a haunting video was filmed at the site.
On Aug. 8, Lake Powell’s famous Double Arch suffered a total collapse into the lake, according to KSL-TV.
The stunning geographical feature, referred to as the “Toilet Bowl,” “Hole in the Roof” or “Crescent Pool” by vacationers and locals, reportedly nearly crushed swimmers hours before it crumbled into the water.
According to KSL-TV, a group of boaters and swimmers were gathered near Double Arch when rocks began to fall.
Merril Campbell, a Utah boater, was present when the archway began to give way.
Hearing a massive splash too big to be a person, Campbell soon discovered he was almost a witness to a tragedy.
“I looked over, and a couple of the guys I was with had seen a big piece of rock fall off the bottom of the arch into the lake,” Campbell told KSL-TV.
Campbell’s friends saw the rockfall and estimated one chunk of tumbling stone to be the size of a Volkswagen.
In a haunting video taken during the initial partial collapse (the rockfall itself was not in-frame, although a massive splash was), chaos eruptted after people realized what is happening. Those on the water begin shouting at those near the feature to get away.
“We were just under there,” a swimmer can be heard saying in the video.
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Double Arch, although beautiful, seems to have been on a slow countdown to failure.
“Since formation,” the National Parks Service wrote in a post on the collapse, “this fine-grained sand feature has been subject to spalling and erosion from weather, wind, and rain.”
The NPS also pointed to “changing water levels and erosion from wave action” as suspected accelerants in the destruction of Double Arch.
Photos taken before and after the collapse show how the unique feature was practically erased from the landscape.
BREAKING NEWS: Double Arch, often called the Toilet Bowl at Lake Powell, has collapsed. (Photos Janessa Zech & NPS)#Utah https://t.co/7K60hF9aqf pic.twitter.com/5v5GH5EKoc
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) August 9, 2024
While Lake Powell remains a go-to destination for unique features and cool water, the loss of Double Arch will be felt for generations to come.
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