A beloved landmark in Arizona collapsed mere hours after an eerie video was filmed at the site.
The Double Arch in Lake Powell—more commonly called the “Crescent Pool,” “Hole in the Roof,” and “Toilet Bowl” by tourists and locals alike—completely fell into the water below on August 8. The collapse apparently came close to crushing a few swimmers who were in the lake.
Local news outlets reported that a number of people were swimming and boating near the landmark when the structure started to fall apart. One of them, Merril Campbell from Utah, witnessed the arch collapsing. He later explained that he heard a splash that was not from a person jumping in the water, noting that he learned two of his companions saw a large portion of rock fall from the bottom of the arch into the water below.
Another witness who saw the initial piece fall guessed that the rock was about the size of a Volkswagen. A video was taken as the collapse began, featuring the chaotic cries of witnesses shouting at one another to get away from the landmark once they understood it was falling to pieces. The arch falling was not in the frame of the video footage but the subsequent splash from impact on the lake was.
The Double Arch has apparently been deteriorating for some time. According to information revealed by the National Parks Service, the structure has “been subject” to deterioration from “spalling and erosion” due to weather “since [its] formation.” The organization added that erosion from waves and shifting water levels are believed to have hurried the deterioration process.
Before and after photos of the site indicate that the landmark is completely wiped from the land following the natural collapse.
In response to the incident, Michelle Kerns of the Glen Canyon Recreation Area said that the collapse is “a reminder” to embrace the “responsibility and need” to take care of “mineral resources” which are around Lake Powell. She explained that the “life span” of “these features” are easily “influenced” and “damaged by manmade interventions.”
Acknowledging that the precise cause of the Double Arch collapse is unknown, Kerns promised that her team would persist in its “resource protection efforts” in the area so that it can be “enjoy[ed]” by “future generations.”
