Older Bridge Crossing Buffalo Bayou Underneath 45

[ebonilm]

I took a late-night stroll along Buffalo Bayou, and noticed what looked like the foundations from a bridge underneath 45. I took a photo of it from both sides of the bayou. It doesn't look too old, but I'm curious about it.

 

The bridge(?) is directly behind the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. 

 

Does anyone here have any info on this?

 

I figured if anyone knew, it'd be you guys. 😉

[Subdude]

At one point there was a footbridge connecting the Sam Houston Coliseum to parking across the bayou.  I believe that these are the bridge foundations.   

[tomv]

That footbridge was built in the 50's to house Houston's very own Magic Carpet Ride!

 

 

 

A picture of then mayor Roy Hofheinz and other city officials trying out the new Moving Sidewalk

 

[H-Town Man]

I love that they put up "purposely opaque" windows so that people couldn't see Buffalo Bayou outside. Because seeing a green, natural feature would have been horrible.

 

[ebonilm]

Thank you guys so much for the information. Subdude and tomv, I really appreciate the awesome photos and articles too. 😀

[tomv]

Your welcome. I remembered that moving sidewalk from when I was a kid and attended events at the old Coliseum. It intrigued me, although I don't ever remember it actually being operational. It may have been a failure, I know it wasn't there that long. Certainly not "one of the wonders of the nation" lol.  Not sure why it intrigued me, maybe it was this.

 

Another clipping

More Moving Sidewalks

 

[dbigtex56]

12 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

I love that they put up "purposely opaque" windows so that people couldn't see Buffalo Bayou outside. Because seeing a green, natural feature would have been horrible.

 

 

This was way before the EPA forced Houston to tackle its sewage disposal problem.
My understanding is that for years raw sewage was dumped directly into Buffalo Bayou, and it wasn't unusual to see intact human turds bobbing merrily along on their way to the Gulf.
Brown, highly unnatural, and horrible would probably be a more apt description.

[H-Town Man]

4 hours ago, dbigtex56 said:

 

This was way before the EPA forced Houston to tackle its sewage disposal problem.
My understanding is that for years raw sewage was dumped directly into Buffalo Bayou, and it wasn't unusual to see intact human turds bobbing merrily along on their way to the Gulf.
Brown, highly unnatural, and horrible would probably be a more apt description.

 

I've heard about the sewage being dumped, skeptical about the turds though. They still had to travel a long way through many pipes and sewers before they got there. Unless your face was against the window and you were peering straight down, you probably would have just looked out and seen a bunch of trees growing over the bayou. Very green trees due to all the sewage.

 

[mollusk]

Floating turds in various waterways was definitely a thing - I remember seeing them with my very own eyes, here and elsewhere.  The Buffalo Bayou Regatta's original official name was the Reeking Regatta for a reason. 

[tomv]

19 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

I love that they put up "purposely opaque" windows so that people couldn't see Buffalo Bayou outside. Because seeing a green, natural feature would have been horrible.

 

Yes for years Houstonians ignored, trashed, and paved over the bayou. The article doesn't really say why the windows were "purposely opaque" (hilarious), but it may have also been for safety reasons. Moving sidewalks were new technology, and there were concerns about how people would react. Maybe they didn't want them stopping en route to enjoy the view!

 

There was actually a child killed on the moving sidewalk that was installed shortly after this one in Dallas at Love Field.

https://todayinsci.com/Events/Technology/MovingSidewalks.htm

 

 

[H-Town Man]

.

 

[dbigtex56]

4 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I've heard about the sewage being dumped, skeptical about the turds though.

 

They were tougher in those days.

 

[H-Town Man]

20 hours ago, tomv said:

 

Interestingly enough, some of the guys in this picture were later featured on a Seinfeld episode:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOlIYCEvYec

 

[tomv]

Ahhh, "vintage" Houston. When we paved over everything and then promoted it as a tourist attraction!

There's water down there somewhere!

[Luminare]

5 hours ago, tomv said:

Yes for years Houstonians ignored, trashed, and paved over the bayou. The article doesn't really say why the windows were "purposely opaque" (hilarious), but it may have also been for safety reasons. Moving sidewalks were new technology, and there were concerns about how people would react. Maybe they didn't want them stopping en route to enjoy the view!

 

There was actually a child killed on the moving sidewalk that was installed shortly after this one in Dallas at Love Field.

https://todayinsci.com/Events/Technology/MovingSidewalks.htm

 

 

 

Context also matters in regards to the bayou. We find it horrid now that the bayou would be treated as such. We not only have a rather contentious relationship with the bayou today, but imagine what relationship was in the past and throughout Houston's history. Every time the city would try to get near it or even interact with the bayou it would always bite back in a very harsh and serious way. You could imagine then that with the ability of new technology and materials to circumvent nature ( much of modernism ethos was about man surpassing nature), plus the overabundance of post-war years, then a dash of apathy to a constantly flooding bayou, and you get things like this and everything that comes with it during the 1950's and 1960's. Luckily we've come to better understand and embrace the bayou even knowing that it doesn't necessarily like us in return. We've learned to live with it and not against it or just pretend it doesn't exist.

[tomv]

 

3 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

Context also matters in regards to the bayou. We find it horrid now that the bayou would be treated as such. We not only have a rather contentious relationship with the bayou today, but imagine what relationship was in the past and throughout Houston's history. Every time the city would try to get near it or even interact with the bayou it would always bite back in a very harsh and serious way. You could imagine then that with the ability of new technology and materials to circumvent nature ( much of modernism ethos was about man surpassing nature), plus the overabundance of post-war years, then a dash of apathy to a constantly flooding bayou, and you get things like this and everything that comes with it during the 1950's and 1960's. Luckily we've come to better understand and embrace the bayou even knowing that it doesn't necessarily like us in return. We've learned to live with it and not against it or just pretend it doesn't exist.

 

Very well said. Wow, there are some really smart and informed people on this forum. I've looked at HAIF for years, but haven't posted in a long time. Seems like it's easier to post now and add pictures and web sites, well done Editor!

 

Yes the bayou especially doesn't like us when we give it too much work to do, as in Harvey, Alison etc etc etc...Like stuffing your washing machine with 5-6 loads of laundry all at once! 

 

Guess when they built all those freeways on stilts over the bayou they figured well at least these won't flood, and if they do it won't be for long. Take that Mother Nature!

 

But we just passed a 2.5 billion dollar flood control bond election by 85%, so maybe there's hope. That's a good start.

 

 

[Houston19514]

On 6/26/2019 at 5:42 PM, Luminare said:

 

Context also matters in regards to the bayou. We find it horrid now that the bayou would be treated as such. We not only have a rather contentious relationship with the bayou today, but imagine what relationship was in the past and throughout Houston's history. Every time the city would try to get near it or even interact with the bayou it would always bite back in a very harsh and serious way. You could imagine then that with the ability of new technology and materials to circumvent nature ( much of modernism ethos was about man surpassing nature), plus the overabundance of post-war years, then a dash of apathy to a constantly flooding bayou, and you get things like this and everything that comes with it during the 1950's and 1960's. Luckily we've come to better understand and embrace the bayou even knowing that it doesn't necessarily like us in return. We've learned to live with it and not against it or just pretend it doesn't exist.

 

And none of this was unique to Houston.  Cities all over America, if not the world, turned their backs on their waterfronts, to put it mildly.

[plumber2]

Yeah, I remember using this walkway once in the early 60's, I presume to attend the Fatstock Show with my parents and family. I never noticed the moving sidewalk though. I guess it had been removed or floored over by then. I was born in 1955, so I had to have been under the age of 10, as the rodeo moved to the Astrodome in 1965. Of course the coliseum was used for other events up until the very end, however better parking underground was provided on the east side of the bayou by then (underneath Tranquility Park and the Albert Thomas Convention Center). Nobody parked in this west lot much after then except for daytime office workers looking for a cheap lot!

[tomv]

On 6/29/2019 at 10:31 AM, plumber2 said:

Yeah, I remember using this walkway once in the early 60's, I presume to attend the Fatstock Show with my parents and family. I never noticed the moving sidewalk though. I guess it had been removed or floored over by then. I was born in 1955, so I had to have been under the age of 10, as the rodeo moved to the Astrodome in 1965. Of course the coliseum was used for other events up until the very end, however better parking underground was provided on the east side of the bayou by then (underneath Tranquility Park and the Albert Thomas Convention Center). Nobody parked in this west lot much after then except for daytime office workers looking for a cheap lot!

 

Yes, that's pretty much how I remember it. According to the articles, that moving sidewalk/footbridge cost a quarter of a million dollars, probably a lot of money in the early/mid 50's, and it was not money well spent.  I would not be surprised if Roy Hofheinz, mayor from 1953-1955, pushed through this project. Houston having only the second moving sidewalk in commercial use in the United States at the time would have been something he would have been very enthusiastic about. He would go on to have much more success with the Harris County Domed Stadium (Astrodome) a few years later.