80 pieces of hazardous rebar extracted from Bow River in Calgary after TransAlta lowers water level

Firefighters recovered about80 piecesof rebar from the Bow River Tuesday afterTransAlta used itsBearspaw Dam to lower the water level and give crews better access to the partially submerged scrap metalthat had been snagging and puncturing recreational rafts.

Battalion Chief Alan Ball said firefighters cut and removed aboutseven dozenpieces of rebarthat were attached to a few chunks of concrete at the bottom of the Bow. Crewswere also building aboom to serve as a warning for rafters.

The Calgary Fire Departmentreceived nine separate calls for help over the weekend after rafts were caught up or damaged by the metal lurkingjust below the surface of the water in a shallow section of the river near Crowchild Trail.

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It's believed the rebar may have been deposited in that locationduring the 2013 flood.

TransAlta said the river's flowwouldbe lowered to 65 cubic metres per second by noon on Tuesday, down from its previous level of109 cubic metres per second,to help firefighters get at the rebar and deal with the hazard.

Rafting down the Bow River is a popular summertime activity in Calgary, with hundreds of watercraft floating through the city on a given day.

The river levelsshould return to normal Wednesday, TransAlta said.

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