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Show FRANK MILLS, Pleasant Grove Public Works Director, stands atop a piece of canyon cliff which now lies in the bottom of Battlecreek. The rock, estimated to weigh between 20-30 tons, is not blocking the stream. Toes off rock plenge By MARCELLA WALKER Tons of rock broke away from a cliff high above Pleasant Grove's Battlecreek Canyon Thursday and tore a gigantic pathway as it swerved and bounced to the canyon floor. The slide was discovered late Thursday afternoon when water department crews working on 500 North glanced toward the canyon and saw the dark path carved in the hillside. They reported the slide and officials walked up the canyon to the site. Public Works Director Frank Mills said the mammoth rock fall just missed hitting an irrigation weir in the canyon which would have caused serious damage. As it was, the worst damage was to trees and the south hillside. A tremendously large boulder, probably weighing in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 tons, is resting in the creek bottom but water is going around it and is not being backed up by the rock, Mr. Mills noted. He said the boulder may be a large chunk of the cliff which broke away. Scores of other large boulders found a new home along the creek banks. A swath nearly 100 feet across has been dug from the mountain at the lower end of the slide. The falling rocks have pushed trees, and tons of earth ahead of them as they rolled and bounced down the mountain. Branches high in trees were clipped by flying rock. . Mr. Mills said that dirt to a depth of 15 feet at the base of the slide may have been pushed out of place. Water is running from many places in the freshly cut swath. While inspecting the site on Friday morning, Mr. Mills and this reporter saw dozens of rocks cascade down the hill at the location as a result apparently of the vibrations of an airliner passing over high above. The public . works director - . suggested that no one walk up Battlecreek Canyon to inspect the slide because it is unstable and the hazard from falling rock is considerable. Pleasant Grove culinary water lines in the area were not damaged by the slide. Crews walked further up the canyon to inspect the pipes on Friday. The remains of a large snow slide . - on the south side of the canyon and the continual shale slide on the north side are nearby. The city flood committee is concerned about additional slides in the canyon. |