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Houston: The New River City?

bkjones98

By bkjones98
in Houston and the Environment

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editor

editor

Posted
Posted
Darlings! The River City is Omaha! Check out the booming river front SKYRISE they are building up there!

And yes, that is a Santiago Calavatra bridge to built accross the Missouri River. Fabulous, and in OMAHA, who knew?

http://www.riverfrontplace.com/

pichome110dt.jpg

Are you sure that's a Calatrava bridge? It's not listed on his web site or in any other reference I could find.

Do you have a link with more information?

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TJones

TJones

Posted
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Are you sure that's a Calatrava bridge? It's not listed on his web site or in any other reference I could find.

Do you have a link with more information?

That bridge is very reminiscent of the Fred Hartman Bridge, in good ol' Baytown. Designed by TxDot dist.12 architects. ;)

Why, just looky here.

http://www.ce.jhu.edu/njones/personal/imag...eral%20View.jpg

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H-Town Man

H-Town Man

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No, they're actually planning on cleaning it up using natural approaches like "green fingers" and wetland creation as well as going after the source of the pollution, which I believe is a combination of lingering industrial lining the bayou and storm drains emptying trash into it, which is more difficult to correct since it involves convincing people not to litter. Buffalo Bayou Master Plan

I have no doubt that they can turn the bayou back into a beautiful stream. I live near Mason Park on the East End and I'm watching the work on Project Brays, where they're combining flood control with wetland creation/recreation by building a walking trail along the banks. Even though it's still unplanted, the new marsh areas are already attracting tons of water birds. One "problem" I see will be the eventual return of a healthy gator population to both bayous.

The bayou may in time become "clean" in that there are not large floating pieces of trash, but it will never be clean in that it is not beige and murky. As a general rule, all the rivers (and creeks and bayous) in Texas from the Brazos eastward flow muddy, all the rivers from the Colorado westward flow clear. It has to do with our loamy, organic soil. Bayous flow even more slowly than rivers, and hence will always be muddy. We might get it a little less muddy with the green fingers, but trying to turn the bayou into a clear, attractive stream a la the Colorado or San Antonio river is like trying to turn a chicken into a horse. You can put a saddle on it, and comb back its tail, and clamp a couple miniature horseshoes on its feet, but at the end of the day, a chicken's a chicken, and a horse is a horse.

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eelimon

eelimon

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I think just as long as there are no chemicals in the bayou from the chemical and oil refineries down stream it would look as good as it can. I mean after the clean up. My biggest fear is that once this project is complete people will begin to get sick from chemicals being dumped deliberately or otherwise. I also would not like to see three eyed frogs, five headed water snakes, or shark size minnows.

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houstonfella

houstonfella

Posted
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They've had a trash cleaning skiff for several years now, so it is largely clear of trash already. Couldn't agree more on the muddy part, though. It may not stink, but it'll always be brown.

When it rains and we get runoff water, it is brown. On quiet days, it can be a dark green, not brown, which makes it far more inviting.

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Houstonian in Iraq

Houstonian in Iraq

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Is it my understanding that they intend to make the bayou boatable? That would be awesome.

A buddy here just purchased a boat while he was on leave. I've convinced him to go exploring down the bayous with me. I'm sure there are parts of the bayou that are too shallow or narrow to take a good size boat down, but we'll try to check out as many places as we can. Eventually we'll go kayaking down the bayous.

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TJones

TJones

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When it rains and we get runoff water, it is brown. On quiet days, it can be a dark green, not brown, which makes it far more inviting.

Sure, It's inviting you to come catch some nasty virus in it's stagnet waters. It's saying," I got your flesh eating virus right here, come and get it." :D

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dbigtex56

dbigtex56

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From the Buffalo Bayou Partnership website:

Water quality is the one blemish on the face of Buffalo Bayou. The storm drains throughout urban Houston drain directly into the bayou carrying litter, oil, fertilizers, toxic chemicals, and other non-point source pollutants that come directly from our manicured lawns, little-league fields, and golf courses. Unfortunately, Buffalo Bayou and White Oak currently have the worst water quality of any stream or river in Texas. Most pernicious are the sub-normal levels of E.Coli bacteria. Of course, the Art Guys drank the water and lived to tell about it!

There have been efforts made to prevent runoff from new construction in the Buffalo Bayou watershed (which accounts for much of the murkiness after rainstorms). Chemical plants and refineries have little or no effect on water quality, as they're located downstream. The challenge is educating people about the consequences of their actions - that indiscriminate use of fertilizers, insecticides, etc. have a very real impact on the quality of our waterways.

"We have met the enemy, and they are us." - Pogo

edit: This statement just grabbed my attention:"Most pernicious are the sub-normal levels of E.Coli bacteria." Can E. Coli be beneficial in a waterway?

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H-Town Man

H-Town Man

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I think just as long as there are no chemicals in the bayou from the chemical and oil refineries down stream it would look as good as it can. I mean after the clean up. My biggest fear is that once this project is complete people will begin to get sick from chemicals being dumped deliberately or otherwise. I also would not like to see three eyed frogs, five headed water snakes, or shark size minnows.

I recently took the ship channel tour (this is something I would recommend for everyone) with my great-uncle, who used to be a security guard on the ship channel back in the 70's. When we were on the boat, which begins its tour from the turning basin and proceeds downstream, we saw a lot of fish. My uncle said that you never used to see fish on the ship channel. He also said that the water back then was very nasty, and it looks pretty clean right now.

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dp2

dp2

Posted
Posted
When it rains and we get runoff water, it is brown. On quiet days, it can be a dark green, not brown, which makes it far more inviting.

They should solve that problem with a true Houston solution: turn it into Astroworld water, ya know, that milky blue color that looks like blue Koolaid.

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gto250us

gto250us

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Omaha is a good example of the same thing that is happening to Dallas, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, St. Louis, Memphis, New York, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Washington DC, Portland.....and Houston. They are all experiencing extreme makeovers of their flowing bodies of water.

All the projects mentioned above have a "River". Houston on the other hand has a "Bayou" which by definition is a rank, stagnate, marginally tidal sewer. Now way will it ever be like the parks listed above. Evan the SA "Riverwalk" is manmade and is drained periodically so that it can be cleaned. This project is nothing but wishful thinking. When was the last time you were in Allen's Landing after dark?

P1010056.jpg

here are the steps that were mentioned ealier in the thread

P1010057.jpg

and some landscaping along the bayou

P1010058.jpg

P1010059.jpg

Trying to beautfy the underside of the freeway is sort of like putting lipstick on a pig.

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bachanon

bachanon

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all this beautification is great, but.....it's still underneath freeways. someone should commission an artist to create an abstract forest of metal (preferably not shiny) forms wrapping around the freeway pillars and undulating from the underbelly of the freeway. light it in an interesting way and walla, the freeway is not just a freeway. B)

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Guest danax

Guest danax

Posted
Posted
all this beautification is great, but.....it's still underneath freeways. someone should commission an artist to create an abstract forest of metal (preferably not shiny) forms wrapping around the freeway pillars and undulating from the underbelly of the freeway. light it in an interesting way and walla, the freeway is not just a freeway. B)

Metal sounds nice, maybe some copper bands, but a potential hazard..? Or maybe some concrete stain, variations of green? I suppose TXDOT wouldn't go for climbing vines. Or, it could be said that the gray adds a stark juxtaposition to the scene.

Have the homeless discovered this place yet?...shhhhhhhh

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CincoRanch-HoustonResident

CincoRanch-HoustonResident

Posted
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Metal sounds nice, maybe some copper bands, but a potential hazard..? Or maybe some concrete stain, variations of green? I suppose TXDOT wouldn't go for climbing vines. Or, it could be said that the gray adds a stark juxtaposition to the scene.

Have the homeless discovered this place yet?...shhhhhhhh

That is a really good idea, with the variations of green pillars on the freeways. Maybe some blue, too.

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Guest danax

Guest danax

Posted
Posted
no. the bayou will always flood. it has to be used in a temporary recreational fashion.

The Master Plan includes a lot of residential and mixed use development along the bayou along with flood control elements. The creation of the "Waterview District" north of Minute Maid is one of the highlights. How close will development be, it doesn't really say. Here's an exerpt from a 3 year old Texas Observer piece on the project. It portrays the Buffalo Bayou Partnership in a not-so rosy light. Full article is here.

"Another area of concern for skeptics is the flood-control proposal, which is a centerpiece of the Buffalo Bayou plan. Unlike San Antonio

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Saddleman

Saddleman

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The Riverwalk in SA is not man made. It's the San Antonio River, which drains into the Gulf. The Horseshoe is the part where most of the river level developement is. The Horseshoe has dams that can close it off for floods and cleanings. When the dams are closed, the river flows exclusively through the only man made channel part of the river, which is not part of the Horseshoe.

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