Slab a concern at Timpanogos Cave

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Crews this spring are expected to blast away a 30-foot slab of limestone hanging near the outside exit of Utah's Timpanogos Cave that experts worry might fall on visitors.

Cave officials on Tuesday released an environmental analysis of the proposal, which also includes a new set of stairs and a sturdier roof near the cave's exit.

The national monument's superintendent, Denis Davis, says falling rocks are a regular concern, but the massive slab near the exit is particularly worrisome.

He's hoping to have the blasting complete in April and get work on the stairs done by mid-July.

The cave is about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City and gets about 80,000 visitors a year.