Wall arch before collapse 20030917 094903 1

Wall Arch was a natural sandstone arch in

Arches National Park Arches National Park is a national park in eastern Utah, United States. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch, ...

in southeastern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Before its collapse in 2008, it was ranked 12th in size among the park's over 2,000 arches. At its largest, the opening underneath the span was wide by high. It consisted of

Entrada Sandstone The Entrada Sandstone is a formation in the San Rafael Group found in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Colorado, northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this formation was deposited during the Jur ...

, specifically the member known as Slick Rock. Wall Arch was first reported and named in 1948 by Lewis T. McKinney. Wall Arch collapsed some time between the night of August 4 and the morning of August 5, 2008, temporarily blocking Devils Garden Trail. No one observed the fall. It was the first collapse of a major arch in the park since sections of

Landscape Arch Landscape Arch is the longest of the many natural rock arches located in Arches National Park, Utah, United States and among the longest natural stone arches in the world. Description The arch is among many in the Devils Garden area in the nor ...

fell in 1991. Officials from the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

and

Utah Geological Survey The Utah Geological Survey is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It also has an office in Cedar City, Utah. It is a division of the

visited the site of the collapsed sandstone arch on August 7 and noted stress fractures in the remaining formation which may cause collapses in the future.

References

External links

{{coord, 38, 47, 33, N, 109, 36, 24, W, display=title Natural arches of Utah Arches National Park Natural arches of Grand County, Utah Collapsed arches