Harvey Passage opening raises hopes of taming Bow’s ‘drowning machine’
‘Drowning machine’ gets tamed
If you were caught in there, it was virtually automatic death.
ERNIE MOLINEAUX
When the Harvie Passage opens to kayakers and rafters this year, it will mark the beginning of a new chapter for Calgary’s paddling community.
It’s hoped it will also mark the end of a century’s worth of tragedies caused by a weir that earned a reputation as the “drowning machine.”
The Harvie Passage — a $17-million project by the parks foundation Calgary — is a series of man-made pools and rapids on the bow river, just downstream of the Calgary Zoo.
The project hasn’t removed the weir, constructed in 1904 to divert some of the flow to an irrigation canal and replaced several times since. A concrete structure still stretches across the river. Now a series of steps slows the pace at which water flows over the barrier and lessens the drop, eliminating the dangerous hydraulic action that claimed the lives of 14 people over the past century.
“If you were caught in there, it was virtually automatic death. Very few people came over it and survived it,” said Calgary Fire Department battalion chief Ernie Molineaux. “When we trained our water rescue specialists, we actually put some of them into the weir. . . . But they were in a harness, with a rescue team there to get them out. It was just so powerful.”
In recent years, the weir was blocked to paddlers by a chain of buoys. Large signs warned boaters of the upcoming danger and directed them to a portage route that bypassed the trouble zone. However, the Harvie Passage will make that section of the river passable again — and paddling enthusiasts can’t wait.
“Everyone’s pretty jazzed about it. It promises to be a pretty amazing resource for paddlers here,” said Simon coward, owner of Aquabatics, the Bowness kayak school and store.
Coward said he expects the boulders, chutes, drops, play holes and play waves of the Harvie Passage to be a major attraction for serious whitewater lovers. In fact, he anticipates Calgary will play host to national-level freestyle competitions in the coming years.
“I’ve paddled in 35 countries, and this (the Harvie Passage) is a pretty unique project. It’s one of the biggest rivers in the world anyone has tried this kind of project on,” Coward said.
Just because the Harvie Passage is safer doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
The Harvie Passage has been designed with two distinct channels, one easier and one harder, but Molineaux said he is concerned overenthusiastic boaters could end up in over their heads.
“We feel that people will probably attempt to navigate it who shouldn’t — who don’t have proper equipment or proper knowledge,” he said.
“We’re not worried about the expert kayakers — they’ll be fine. But anybody in a raft or canoe that doesn’t have proper equipment or experience could get into very severe difficulty.”
Though no official grand opening date for the Harvie Passage has been scheduled, Saba Gnanakumar, southern operations manager for Alberta Environment, said it should be open in early May, when the irrigation season begins.
Finishing touches, including signs directing paddlers to the two different channels, are being put in place. The project is anticipated to come in on budget.
Gnanakumar emphasized the old weir was built for irrigation, and that remains the primary purpose of the reconstructed one. But Coward said the Harvie Passage is bound to raise the profile of paddle sports in Calgary, especially because it is easily visible from the city’s pathway system as well as from Memorial Drive and Deerfoot Trail.
“People who are driving home on the Deerfoot are going to see a bunch of kayakers playing around on it (the Harvie Passage),” Coward said. “I think that will pique people’s interest and probably increase participation in paddling long-term.”