Harvie Passage Tested by Kayakers

August 1, 2017

The Harvie Passage on the Bow River in Calgary is scheduled to re-open to the public in the summer of 2018.

Prior to the Harvie Passage Project (previously called the Calgary Bow River Weir Project), the “Calgary Weir” represented the only artificial barrier to boaters and fish passage in the 100 km reach of the Bow River. The primary purpose of the Harvie Passage Project was to redevelop the weir to eliminate the extreme drowning hazard it created, and to enable river passage for non-motorized boats and fish while maintaining diversion for irrigation.

Klohn Crippen Berger (KCB) was retained in 2008 for the final design, tendering, and construction management for the Harvie Passage Project. The project was completed in 2011, however the unprecedented Bow River flood of June 2013 damaged the Harvie Passage, and it is now being restored.

Designers wanted to see how one of the channels under construction would work for paddlers, so last week they had a few kayakers to test the rapids.

Take a look at how they did in this video: http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/video-harvie-passage-test-drive

The project and KCB are also mentioned in the Summer 2017 issue of the Design Develop Construct (DDC) Journal. See the article on page 46 of the journal at this link: http://www.ddcjournal.com/issues/summer2017/