Wil Andruschak

Mac Hickley, manager of the River Valleys Committee for Parks Foundation Calgary, says the weir project is physically and legislatively precedent-setting

Floating down the Bow River on a hot July afternoon is a trademark of a Calgary summer. The relaxing flow comes to a quick and sudden end, however, just past the Calgary Zoo at the Western Headworks Diversion Weir, a 100-year-old low-level dam dubbed “the drowning machine.”

The weir, which looks like a miniature waterfall, was designed to divert the river for agricultural irrigation, but has become a dangerous trap. A fall over the weir almost ensures death, as most people caught in the current would be unable to free themselves before becoming exhausted. Fourteen lives have been claimed since the modern weir was established in the mid-’70s.

An original $6.5-million plan to replace the weir with a series of recreational pools and rapids for kayakers, river surfers and play-boaters was ready to roll in 2005, and was slated for completion last spring. When the project received funding that same year, the Province of Alberta contributed $3.4 million, the City of Calgary contributed $1 million and the estate of philanthropist Don Harvie donated $2 million. Meanwhile, a booming economy combined with incorrect initial estimates regarding how much rock and concrete would be required has pushed construction costs to approximately $12 million — and work hasn’t even started. This has many grassroots advocates of the project worried that it could be scrapped.

“As far as a personal opinion, I’m pretty concerned about the entire thing,” says Paul Barrett, a local river surfer and member of the Alberta River Surfing Association, who has been working to support the project. “They continue to delay it and waste vast amounts of money. It seems to me that if they wait much longer they won’t have any money, and the whole project will fall through. Still, I honestly hope things can get back on track.”

Mac Hickley, manager of the River Valleys Committee for Parks Foundation Calgary, a non-profit closely tied to the city that works to build and preserve parks, valleys and riverways, and a partner in the weir project, says the delays have been beyond his organization’s control. He says that aside from paying for background studies and engineering designs already completed, the money raised for the project remains in place.

“All of the permitting processes are very complicated and there are at least three of them still to come in,” Hickley says. “This is a precedent-setting project, both physically and legislatively.”

Indeed it is. The unparalleled project will see the dam crest — with a drop of 3.6 metres, a width that exceeds 210 metres and total flow in the thousands of cubic metres per second — converted into a play wave area. By constructing rock structures below the weir, the water level will be backed up to eliminate the deadly recirculation. The backed-up water will drop over a series of short swifts followed by calm pools. Using an existing small island below the weir, the river will be divided into two channels. A multiple channel design will allow for beginner boat passage as well as world class surfing and play-boating. Fish, which have had difficulty travelling the river and have been an easy target for the many pelicans in the area, will enjoy free passage.

“We are now at the point where the province will assume responsibility for managing the construction phase and we expect the tenders to be released within a few weeks,” Hickley says. “Assuming no major problems arise, like a big flood, the projected completion date is still Spring 2010.”

For more information go to www.harviepassage.ca/.