The terrifying 75-foot-wide hole serves as a huge drain for the reservoir of Lake Berryessa, located at the top of the Monticello Dam in the eastern Napa Valley.
Excess water swirls in the huge hole when water levels rise above 15 feet, creating a strange and wonderful rotating vortex effect.
About 1,360 cubic meters of water are swallowed by the overflow per second when used, which then travels in a 250-foot tunnel, according to the Mirror.
Engineers in the 1950s built an overflow as an alternative to the more common pipeline, which is used to control the flow of water from a dam or dam. Read more related articles Read more related articles With this in mind, the architects constructed the feature that looks like a sewer at the dam as it reduces the gap between the rocks where it is located and would have left the pipeline with nowhere to go. Since then, the hole has built quite a bit of fame in the community. The hole is an overflow of Lake Berryessa that occurs draining water from the tank when it reaches a certain level. (Image: express.co.uk) Hundreds of spectators in 2017 came to watch the awe-inspiring spectacle at the opening of the “gate”. Lake Berryessa can hold about 52 billion gallons of water before the excess begins to flow into the overflow. The lake reached full capacity for the first time after 11 years in 2018. However, it reopened in 2019 after a season of heavy rainfall, attracting thousands of curious spectators. Today, the hole is no longer a safety hazard, as the tank has been removed with a rope and prohibits swimming or boating. A drone records the overflow in Lake Berryessa as it overflows. (Image: Evan K / Youtube) Read more related articles Read more related articles However, in 1997, Emily Schwalek died after being caught in the current while rowing in the area as she was dragged into the pipe after being held by the rim for about 20 minutes. The shot of the hole has gone viral since it was posted on the social networking platform Gfycat in 2018 and later re-released on reddit and has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Some social media viewers were horrified by the spectacle. Lake Berryessa can hold about 52 billion gallons of water. (Image: Evan K / Youtube) One commenter wrote: “Why is there a giant hole in the middle of the lake where people swim, and why is there no rope around?” Another added: “This seems very insecure.” And a third said, “That’s the gate to Hell.” Similar to the “Gateway to Hell” in California, a fire pit in Kazakhstan earned a similar nickname in the early 1970s when the ground collapsed during a Soviet gas drilling mission. The hole is 20 meters deep and 60 meters (190 feet) wide. It is located in the Karakum Desert, about 160 miles north of the capital Ashgabat. Do not miss the latest news from all over Scotland and beyond – Subscribe to our daily newsletter here.