The Province of Alberta will begin work this summer on the reconstruction of Harvie Passage on the Bow River in Calgary.The river work will be completed in the fall of 2017 and the site is scheduled to be reopened to the public in the spring of 2018.
The work is intended to repair the damage done in the flood of 2013 to the concrete structures that formed the whitewater features in the Bow River at the Western Irrigation District weir.The cost of the river work is being funded by the Disaster Recovery Program and it is expected to be close to the original cost of building Harvie Passage. Harvie Passage Project Update Jan 2016.pdf
With 10 feet of elevation drop between the top of the weir and the downstram end of the reach there is a considerable amount of hydraulic energy that has to be dissipated and controlled at this site. Naturally there will be waves and rapids formed in the river at this location. The alternative was the old weir structure that dissipated the energy efficiently but in a very unsafe manner that was not friendly to people or fish migrations.Preliminary Design Report - reduced (2) 36.pdf
The High Water Channel on River Left will look similar to the pre-flood design but under the water, there have been new design features that should make the hydraulic features better for whitewater paddlers. A lot of effort was spent on testing the hydraulic models and Mark Taylor, Neil Egsgard and Chuck Lee were able to test a variety of slopes and configurations to optimize the performance of the drops to create surfable waves. As we had predicted, installing a plate at the bottom of the drop increases the wave and decreased the retentiveness of the hole at the bottom of each drop. The proof will be in the pudding but we are hopeful that people will enjoy Drops 3L, 3R and 4 more with this new design. Drops 2L and 2R will not be modified.
The big change will be the Low Water Channel on River Right. The 2013 flood filled the existing LWC with flood debris and opened a new channel through an old floodway. Rather than excavate and repair the original LWC, the government opted to use this new channel for the LWC. There are several advantages to this option including the longer reach creates a lower angle slope, the redesign will be more naturalized and the features can be built with greater flood resiliency. We are quite excited that the new LWC will be better for all floaters and boaters.Â
What has not been planned for yet is the public amenities to support this recreation and sport facility. It will be up to the City of Calgary to provide the parking, change rooms, restrooms and boat storage in the future. The Harvie Passage Alliance and the Calgary River Users Alliance have this on their agenda and are in discussions with the City through the "Bend in the Bow" park planning and the River Access strategy. We are hopeful that the City will be forthcoming on a plan that includes paddlers at Harvie Passage going forward. If you want more information contact Chuck Lee at the AWA office and he will provide access to the latest design plans as we know them.HP redesign.pdf
