Editor's note: This updates with details of the electrical issue.
Electrical issues have led Carlsbad Caverns National Park officials to shut down cave tours this week while repairs are made.
"Due to needed electrical updates, the cavern, including ranger-guided tours, will be closed January 22-29. The visitor center (VC), Rattlesnake Springs, & trails around the VC will be open," the park said in a short message on its website. "Reservations and fees are not required during this period."
Specifically, the work involves a large electrical upgrade for the cavern, said Superintendent Carmen Chaplin in an email. "Large distribution panel boxes are being moved to a new location and out of the viewshed," she explained. "While this work is being completed, there will be almost no light in the cavern, thus the need for the closure.
"This project previously downsized 30 electrical panels, and will also involve replacing 60 power supply units and relocating one transformer," wrote the superintendent.
Over the years there have been problems with the elevators that take visitors down into the cave system.
Six years ago both the elevators that normally take visitors into the cave and back up to the surface, as well as the freight elevators that are viewed as a backup to the passenger elevators, were out of commission due to problems with their motors. Those problems stretched into 2018, when new motors and elevator cars were installed. Also in 2018, in March of that year, one of the cars became stranded 740 feet below the surface with three visitors inside due to a worn traveling cable, which sends the correct signal to the controls that allow the elevator car to operate.
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