Tag Archive for: Brays Bayou

$480 Million Project Brays Complete After 40 Years

May 26, 2022, marked the official completion of a 40-year, $480-million flood-mitigation project in the Brays Bayou Watershed. Project Brays was the largest project in Harris County Flood Control District’s history. It included:

  • 21 miles of channel modifications
  • Construction of four stormwater detention basins that cover more than 800 acres
  • Reconstruction of 32 bridges
  • Miles of hike and bike trails

Benefits of Project Brays

The Texas Medical Center, one of the major economic engines of the City lies within the Brays watershed. No one at the ceremony promised Brays would never flood again. But they did emphasize how Project Brays reduced flood risk. They also emphasized how that could benefit entire communities, not just individual structures.

The detention basins alone will hold more than 3.5 billion gallons of stormwater. That’s a foot of rain falling across 17 square miles!

According to County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the combination of improvements will reduce flood depth by an average of 2 feet.

The project reduced flood risk for more than 15,000 structures in the Brays Bayou Watershed where 775,000 people live. According to HCFCD statistics, 58% of those residents have low-to-moderate incomes (less than half the average for the region).

Ribbon cutting on Project Brays near Hermann Park

Rare Moment of Bipartisan Appreciation

The theme for the ribbon-cutting ceremony was “partnership” between Federal, State, County and City authorities. More than half a dozen different speakers spread the kudos around. The project could not have happened without the cooperation of all of them and their predecessors.

New Flood Control District Executive Director Dr. Tina Petersen introduced the partners present.

Colonel Timothy Vail of the U.S. Army Corps called the partnerships in this project the “most sophisticated” he has ever seen during a career that has taken him around the world.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle emphasized how funding brought to the table by various sources enabled the acceleration of projects.

Houston City Council Member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz said, “We need to stop being divisive and start being decisive.”

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher described how the area’s congressional delegation was able to bring money to the area through the Water Resources Development Act.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner discussed how projects like this can only happen if multiple partners cooperate.

Past Contributors Acknowledged

And Judge Lina Hidalgo gave a nod to the past as well as the present. She thanked past Flood Control District executives, such as Russ Poppe, Matt Zeve and Mike Talbott. They helped start this project and advance it for decades. She also thanked Poppe and Zeve for architecting the flood bond, which reversed “decades of investment that simply was not aggressive enough.”

Hidalgo also stated that regulations were not aggressive enough before the flood bond. For instance, she cited buyouts that took place as part of Project Brays and said that those homes would never have been safe no matter what the partners did to mitigate flooding.

Project Milestones

It’s interesting to see “what happened when” on this project, recognizing that the pace depended on funding – or lack thereof – as Hidalgo acknowledged.

Early 1980s

U.S,. Army Corps of Engineers began the study of Brays Bayou.

1991

Design and engineering began on the Brays Bayou Federal Flood Damage Reduction Project.

1993

Construction of the first stormwater detention basin at Arthur Story Park began.

2004

Excavation of Brays Bayou main channel began.

2005

Freshwater Marsh at Mason Park was completed.

2008

Arthur Storey Park and Old Westheimer Stormwater Detention Basin completed.

2015

Eldridge Stormwater Detention Basin completed.

2017

Control Structures at Eldridge, Old Westheimer, and Arthur Storey completed.

2018

Willow Waterhole Stormwater Detention Basin completed.

2021

Channel modifications from Houston Ship Channel to Fondren Road completed.

2022

Final bridge construction projects and overall Project Brays completed.

(Note: since originally posting this story, I learned that minor work remains on three bridges even though the bridges are open to traffic. HCFCD decided to hold the ceremony when it did to avoid hurricane season and because of the impending transfer of Colonel Vail who played a key role in this project.)

A Helicopter Flight Up Brays Bayou Before Completion of Construction

In June of 2021, I flew a helicopter from one end of Brays Bayou to the other, when many of the improvements were still under construction. See the photos below.

Brays Bayou
Brays Bayou at the ship channel.
Brays Bayou Bridge
Railroad bridge being upgraded near Tipps Street.
New Bridge over Brays at South 75th. Widening of a channel may require a new bridge OR the widening of supports under the bridge.
288 and Brays. Bridge construction on Almeda.
288 and Brays. Bridge construction on Almeda.
Looking NE toward Med Center and downtown in background across another new bridge over Brays. Note the electrical infrastructure next to the bayou.
Brays
Looking NE toward downtown where Fannin St. crosses Brays at UT Health Science Center.
Looking NE toward downtown in background along Main Street. Medical Center is in middle of frame.
Looking north across new bridge over Brays along Buffalo Speedway toward Greenway Plaza in background.
Looking east toward downtown along Brays just inside of Loop 610 at detention pond. Note sewage treatment plant across bayou.
Looking east toward downtown along Brays just inside of Loop 610 at detention pond. Note sewage treatment plant across bayou.
SW Corner of Loop 610 looking toward downtown in upper right.
SW Corner of Loop 610 looking toward downtown in upper right.
Same intersection south of Galleria area. Note complexity where seven streams of traffic intersect.
Same intersection south of Galleria area. Note complexity where seven streams of traffic intersect.
Looking north at new bridge over Brays at Chimney Rock
Looking north at new bridge over Brays at Chimney Rock
Looking WSW across same new bridge at Hillcroft. Note wide spans and wings designed to prevent erosion.
Looking WSW across same new bridge at Hillcroft. Note wide spans and wings designed to prevent erosion.
Looking NNE at Hilcroft and North Braeswood Blvd.
Looking NNE at Hilcroft and North Braeswood Blvd.

Stormwater Detention Basins

Arthur Storey Park at Beltway 8 West and Bellaire Blvd. Looking N toward Westchase District.
Southern part of same park. Looking NE across BW8 West.
Southern part of same park. Looking NE across BW8 West.
Willow Water Hole
One of the five compartments in the Willow Water Hole Stormwater Detention Basin near S. Post Oak and US 90.
Two northeastern compartments within Willow Water Hole complex on either side of South Post Oak Road.
From page 57 of HCFCD 2019 Federal Briefing. Note all of the projects recently funded, completed or under construction.

Projects like Brays don’t happen spontaneously. This took decades of planning and collaboration. So, we should all remember that progress in flood mitigation can sometimes take decades. And that public safety requires reaching across party lines and generations.

For more information, visit www.projectbrays.org.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 5/26/22

1731 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Where Flood-Bond Spending Is Going, When New Flood Maps Will Be Released

On the Harris County Commissioner’s Court agenda for today are two Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) “transmittals.” One will update commissioners on flood-bond spending to date. The other will update commissioners on the progress of new flood maps (the MAAPnext program). They are items 269 and 270 on today’s agenda.

Transmittals are reports by departments. Commissioners don’t usually discuss them unless one of the commissioners wishes to make comments for some reason. So, I’m calling them to your attention here.

Flood-Mitigation Spending Through Third Quarter Reaches $865 Million

About half of the $865 million spent on flood mitigation since voters passed the bond in 2018 has come from bond funds. The rest has come from grants and local partnerships. See pie chart below on left.

The left pie chart underscores the importance of partnership funding.

The map below shows where flood-bond spending has occurred.

Flood-mitigation spending by watershed since approval of flood-bond in 2018.

The winner in the $weep$take$: HCFCD spent almost $154 million on Brays Bayou.

Other leading watersheds (rounded to nearest million) in flood-bond spending included:

  • $81 million in Addicks Reservoir
  • $76 million on Greens Bayou
  • $76 million on Cypress Creek
  • $50 million on Little Cypress Creek
  • $46 million on White Oak Bayou
  • $32 million on Clear Creek

With a few exceptions, this spending reflects the influence of the Harris County Flood-Bond Equity Prioritization Framework implemented in 2019. That framework gives highest priority to low- to middle-income watersheds with a high social-vulnerability index. Thus, tiny Halls Bayou has received more assistance than the largest watershed in the county – the San Jacinto River. And Brays Bayou has received almost 11 times more assistance than Buffalo Bayou.

Two notable exceptions are:

  • Vince Bayou which is almost totally inside the City of Pasadena and is therefore primarily Pasadena’s responsibility.
  • Little Cypress Creek which is part of HCFCD’s experimental Frontier Program. The Frontier Program aims to prevent future flooding by buying up land on the cheap before it’s developed. HCFCD then sells detention basin capacity to developers to help make back its investment.

Other Insights Gained from Report

  • Most projects are ahead of schedule and on budget. Good news!
  • More than half of buyouts have been completed and enough funding apparently remains to complete the rest.
  • Progress continues on the $124 million FEDERAL Flood Damage Reduction project on White Oak Bayou, where six stormwater detention basins will hold almost a billion gallons of stormwater. That’s equivalent to about a foot of stormwater falling over almost 5 square miles.
  • No actual projects in the Kingwood Area have begun construction yet. However, the Excavation and Removal Project on Woodridge Village could soon begin.

Additional maps in the full report show:

  • Dollars funded to date by watershed (Note, for instance, another $47 million in funding already committed to Brays).
  • Active Maintenance projects
  • Active Capital projects

Also, a massive GANNT chart shows the stages of every project in every watershed and county-wide projects.

Check out the full report here.

Controversy over Previous Version of Report

An earlier version of this report generated some controversy. People in some watersheds didn’t believe the reported expenditures. Members of the Northeast Action Collective questioned whether any projects had started in their watersheds. They demanded immediate cancellation of projects in Kingwood and transfer of Kingwood’s funds, so that projects in Halls and Greens Bayou could start immediately.

That’s, in part, why I wrote “How to Find and Verify Flood-Related Information: Part I.” Flood-mitigation projects are hard to spot from the ground. Construction almost always happens out of sight behind tall fences and dense tree lines. After construction, the projects are often disguised as parks. For those who doubt, I recommend confirming the existence of projects from the air.

I haven’t confirmed every project in the county, but I have spot-checked many. And I have yet to find discrepancies between what HCFCD reports and what I can see from the air.

C-25, a Halls Bayou Detention pond now under construction by HCFCD
C-25, a Halls Bayou Detention pond now under construction by HCFCD. The bayou runs through the trees in the foreground.
flood detention basin
New basin at Hopper and US59 on a tributary of Halls Bayou.
Lauder Detention Basin on Greens Bayou as of 10/12/2021
Lauder Detention Basin on Greens Bayou as of 10/12/2021. Phase One of a two-phase project is nearly complete.
Cutten Road detention basin on Greens Bayou continues its relentless expansion.
Phase 2 Aldine Westfield Basin
Phase 1 of the Greens Bayou Aldine-Westfield Basin on left is complete. Phase 2 on right is now beginning.

For more information that includes watershed spending data before the flood-bond, check out the funding page.

MAAPnext Effort About to Be Turned Over to FEMA

Harris County Flood Control (HCFCD) estimates it has completed 86% of its part of the flood-map updates. HCFCD will deliver drafts of the new maps to FEMA in January for review and kick off a campaign of public meetings at the same time. The public will see draft maps in February. A public comment period of 90 days will follow. And FEMA hopes to release preliminary flood insurance insurance rate maps by mid-year next year.

I have had a peek at the new maps and reports. And I must say, the effort should result in a dramatic leap forward in flood-risk understanding. Individualized reports will inform homeowners of their flood risks from a variety of different sources, including street flooding. The prototype of the website is very user friendly.

After receiving preliminary maps from HCFCD, it typically takes FEMA another 18-24 months to release final, official flood maps. That gives affected property owners time to comment and appeal. The process looks like this.

MAAPnext milestones as of the end of 2021.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/30/2021

1554 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Six Low-Income Watersheds Receive More Funding than 15 Higher Income Watersheds Combined

Third of an eight-part series on flood-mitigation funding in Harris County

Some people and their representatives in low-to-moderate-income (LMI) watersheds have complained that they get “no” flood-mitigation funding and that the money is all going to richer watersheds. Allegedly, that’s because home values are higher there and thus favor higher benefit/cost ratios (a sort of systemic racial discrimination). But is that true? Do higher home values in a neighborhood really translate into “projects funded”? No. The allegation ignores many other factors that enter into funding, such as damage and population density. Density is two to three times higher in low-income neighborhoods and that influences damage totals. When you look at funding outcomes as opposed to a sliver of the mitigation process, low-income neighborhoods get far more money. Here’s how it breaks down.

Where Money is Really Going

Recently, I obtained flood-mitigation funding data for every watershed in Harris County via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. It sheds new light on this subject.

In addition to the quartile comparisons I did in earlier posts, I also compared the top quartile (six watersheds) to the rest with one exception in each group noted in previous posts and the footnote below.* The data showed that six watersheds with the highest percentages of LMI residents (meaning low income) have received 56.8% of HCFCD spending out of the 21 remaining watersheds since 2000.

Harris County Flood Control District data obtained via FOIA request.

A second pattern also clearly emerged from the data. Long before “equity” guidelines were put in place, HCFCD spending closely tracked flood damage. It still does. And the most damage occurred in lower-income watersheds.

In this post, I will examine both trends by looking at six watersheds with the highest percentages of LMI residents. They include Brays, Greens, Sims, Halls, Hunting and White Oak Bayous. 

As a group, they:

  • Comprise 30.9% of the square miles in the county
  • Received 56.8% of total spending – $1.52 billion of the $2.6 billion spent by HCFCD since 2000.

That’s more than 15 higher income watersheds combined.

Dollars Flow to Damage

But if you stopped there, you could conclude that these six watersheds were getting more than 2-3X their fair share of funding. However, also consider that they had 144,754 out of the 222,739 structures damaged in Harris County during Allison, Tax Day, Memorial Day and Harvey floods.

One thing is certain: these six watersheds have not been at the “back of the bus.” They received more than $1.5 billion out of $2.6 billion invested by HCFCD since 2000. 

The data DISPROVES discrimination on an income or racial basis. Money is not going disproportionately to rich neighborhoods. Far from it. It’s going disproportionately to poor and minority neighborhoods. However, that is also where the most flood damage occurred. Let’s take a closer look at each of the six low-income watersheds.

Brays Bayou:
  • Received 19% of total spending since 2000, but represents just 6% of the county’s area.
  • Received more than half a billion dollars since 2000, the most of any watershed, and about one-fifth of all flood-mitigation spending in 23 watersheds in 21 years.
  • Received the second most funding since Harvey ($130,685,844.43).
  • Got 4 times the average and 7 times the median of flood-mitigation funding for all watersheds.

It certainly seems like an outsized injection of flood-mitigation funds. But the improvements also protect some major infrastructure and employment centers including the Texas Medical Center. See this photo essay taken from the air.

Also consider that Brays had the most damage in four major storms (Allison, Tax Day, Memorial Day, Harvey) – 32,194 structures flooded. 

Brays has the fifth highest percentage of low-to-moderate income residents (58%).

HCFCD construction is on-going in this watershed.

Greens Bayou:

Commissioners Ellis and Garcia often cite Greens Bayou as a “back-of-the-bus” watershed. They also say, that if the County doesn’t fix it, “we’ll have blood on our hands.” 

Greens received the 3rd most dollars since 2000 and the 2nd most since Harvey. That’s 11% and 14% of all HCFCD spending respectively during those two time periods. Only in Harris County politics can you call second place out of 23 “back of the bus.” 

But Greens also had the second most damage in four major storms (28,815 structures). 

Greens Bayou has the sixth highest percentage of LMI residents in the county (57%).

HCFCD construction is also on-going in this watershed.

Halls Bayou:

Mr. Ellis and Mr. Garcia also consider Halls Bayou funding to be “back of the bus.” It comprises only about 2.4% of the county but received almost 5% of total spending since 2000. It also received:

  • The fourth most funding per capita ($841.77)
  • The third most funding per square mile ($3,031,912)
  • The eighth most funding since 2000 ($128 million).

Residents still believe they received “nothing,” but I photographed eight large detention ponds recently completed or under construction. Four are right next to US 59.

Halls has the highest percentage of LMI residents (71%) in Harris County.

HCFCD construction is on-going in this watershed.

Sims Bayou:

Sims Bayou runs through the southern part of the county. It:

  • Ranks as the 8th largest watershed.
  • Received the 6th most funding since 2000 ($165,013,368)
  • Has the 7th largest population (310,537)
  • Has the 5th highest population density (3755 per sq. mi.)
  • Had the 6th most damage (18,122 structures)

Sounds proportional and it is. 

However, these calculations do not include $254 million, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent on Sims between 1990 and 2015 (by itself) for a major flood-reduction project. The Corps’ contribution to Sims Bayou alone was almost 10% of all HCFCD spending since 2000 ($2.68 billion).

If you add the Federal contribution to HCFCD’s funding, Sims would have ranked second on the list of flood-mitigation dollars received since 2000. Only Brays received more.

Sims has the third highest percentage of LMI residents (65%).

Hunting Bayou

Hunting Bayou is one of the county’s smaller watersheds. It comprises 31 square miles or 1.7% of the county’s land mass. That ranks it as the 19th largest bayou out of 23. And it has the 14th largest population (78,213). Yet, since 2000, it has:

  • Had the seventh most damage (15,728 structures)
  • Received the third most dollars per capita since 2000 ($952.18)
  • Received the fourth most dollars per square mile ($2,402,908)

Hunting Bayou has the second highest percentage of LMI residents (69%).

HCFCD construction is on-going in this watershed.

White Oak

White Oak Bayou is the sixth largest watershed in Harris County. Yet it received 13% of the flood-mitigation funding since 2000 – $349 million, the second highest total of any watershed. It also ranked second in dollars received per square mile – $3.14 million.

But also consider that it had the third highest number of damaged structures – 24,989 in Allison, Tax Day, Memorial Day and Harvey floods combined.

51% of the residents in White Oak qualify as low-to-moderate income. 

HCFCD construction is on-going in this watershed.

Damage-to-Dollar Rankings

“Damaged structures” and funding received had the highest correlation of any relationship I tested. For math majors, the coefficient was .86. That’s high. A perfect correlation would be 1.0. For the less technically inclined, see the table below.

Contrary to the “rich-watersheds-get-all-the-money” narrative, flood-mitigation funding, data shows that HCFCD is putting the most money in the hardest hit watersheds.Dollars flow to damage.

Many projects in these lower income watersheds are still under construction or preparing for it. And major storms have not yet tested many recently constructed improvements. Regardless, their residents are safer than they otherwise would be. And they can take some comfort in knowing that the system is working for them, not against them. 

For more information, see: 

Posted by Bob Rehak, based on information compiled from a FOIA request and Federal Briefings

1394 days since Harvey 

*Omits Vince Bayou in low-income group because it is entirely within the City of Pasadena, which has responsibility for it. Includes White Oak Bayou instead. Also omits Little Cypress, which has a very small population and is an experiment by HCFCD in preventing future flooding.

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.

Brays Bayou Received Approximately Half Billion in Flood Mitigation Funding In Last 23 Years

Since 1998, the Brays Bayou watershed has received approximately a half billion dollars in flood-mitigation funding. To compile that estimate, I consulted Harris County Flood Control District’s (HCFCD) 2019 Federal Briefing (see page 45) and HCFCD’s “active construction projects” page for May 2021.

Map of Improvements

From page 57 of HCFCD 2019 Federal Briefing. Note all of the projects recently funded, completed or under construction.

Nature of Improvements

The 2019 Federal Briefing (page 56) separates Brays improvements into two areas:

  • Upstream (west of Sam Houston Tollway)
    • 3 detention basins: 595 surface acres; 9,623 acre-feet of storage – enough to hold a foot of water falling over 15 square miles (13% of entire watershed)
    • 3.7 miles of channel conveyance improvements, including control structures, from Old Westheimer Rd. to SH 6
  • Downstream (east of Sam Houston Tollway)
    • 17.5 miles of channel conveyance improvements from the mouth to Fondren Rd.
    • 1 detention basin: 252 surface acres; 1,865 acre-feet of storage – enough to hold a foot of water falling over 3 square miles
    • 30 bridge replacements/modifications, and/or channel conveyance improvements under bridges (16 due for completion this year)

Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) manages, designs, and builds the projects; buys land, easements, rights-of-way; relocates utilities; adjusts bridges (except for railroads); and operates and maintains the channel after construction.

Benefits and Costs

After completion, upstream improvements should give residents a 100-yr. level of flood protection (1% annual chance).

Likewise, downstream improvements should reduce the number of structures:

  • In the 4% or 25-year flood plain from 3,520 to 50.
  • In the 100-year flood plain from 16,800 to 1,800.

Total Cost Estimate: $480M though 2019 (Source: 2019 HCFCD Federal Briefing, Page 45)

Benefit-Cost Ratio: 7.0 (Source: 2019 HCFCD Federal Briefing, Page 56)

The size of the cost in conjunction with the benefit-cost ratio makes these numbers impressive. The primary requirement for the ratio is that it exceeds 1.0, i.e., that the benefits exceed the costs.

Brays’ watershed includes 114 square miles. That makes the cost per square mile a whopping $4.4 million throughout the watershed. However, one must also consider that the population of Brays is the largest of any watershed in Harris County – more than 700,000 of which (57.5%) qualifies as low-to-moderate income.

The map below, taken from a 2020 HCFCD grant application to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), shows the distribution of income throughout the watershed. Areas such as West University and the Medical Center in the middle (blue) rank higher in income than areas east and west (tan/red).

LMI quartiles within Brays Bayou Watershed as of 2020. Source: HCFCD HUD grant application.

Possible Reasons for Large Investment

You could justify this extraordinary level of investment any number of ways. By the:

  1. Large population
  2. High population density
  3. High benefit/cost ratio
  4. Protection of critical infrastructure, such as the Texas Medical Center
  5. Number of homes and businesses flooded historically – also the largest in Harris County: 32,194 structures since Allison (Source: 2019 Federal Briefing: Pages 16-21)
  6. Length of time projects have been in the pipeline (most before Harvey and some even before Allison)
  7. Proximity to older, central part of county

Do not underestimate the last two points. Funding for many flood-mitigation projects can take decades.

Disproven Theories

Regardless of the reasons why Brays has received so much investment, one can also look at what this example does not show. It does not support the “equity” narrative propounded by some. That narrative asserts low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods receive less flood-mitigation funding because of lower home values compared to more affluent neighborhoods. Those affluent neighborhoods theoretically get more flood-mitigation funding because they allegedly support higher benefit-cost ratios (BCRs).

Home Value Alone Does Not Determine Benefit/Cost Ratio

The 7.0 BCR in Brays proves that low-to-moderate income neighborhoods are not automatically disadvantaged. Population density can offset lower property values. A whole apartment complex can sit on the same amount of land as one suburban home, yet the apartments would have higher value.

Experts also point out that many other elements affect calculation of BCRs. This study from the William & Mary Law School summarizes the approaches of HUD, FEMA, the Corps and others in determining BCRs. Table I.1 on page 11 shows many of the factors considered:

  • Resiliency benefits
    • Direct Physical Damages to Buildings, Contents and Inventory
    • Essential Facility and Critical Infrastructure Serivce Loss
    • Human Impacts
    • Economic Losses
  • Environmental Benefits
    • Provisioning Services
    • Regulating Services
    • Supporting Services
    • Cultural Services
  • Social Benefits
    • Recreational Benefits
    • Health Benefits
    • Aesthetic Benefits
  • Economic Revitalization
Brays Watershed Investment Not Suffering From Discrimination

The Brays watershed cuts across racial, ethnic and socio-economic boundaries. Flooding has been recognized as a problem here for decades and HCFCD has successfully obtained many grants during that time. HCFCD has also invested more in Brays than any other watershed. Like Halls Bayou and Greens Bayou, the narrative re: Brays is far more complex than some acknowledge.

Photos of Improvements in Bray’s Bayou Watershed

On May 26, I flew from Beltway 8 West to the Ship Canal east of downtown along Brays Bayou. Out of more than 1100 images, here are 16 that represent what you see along the way. Lots of detention ponds, channel improvements, and new bridges. The bridges are higher and often wider, with wider supports to avoid constrictions and blockages. New bridges never have more than two supports in the water flow; some old ones had seven.

Arthur Storey Park at Beltway 8 West and Bellaire Blvd. Looking N toward Westchase District.
Southern part of same park. Looking NE across BW8 West.
Looking NNE at Hilcroft and North Braeswood Blvd.
Looking WSW across same new bridge at Hillcroft. Note wide spans and wings designed to prevent erosion.
Looking north at new bridge over Brays at Chimney Rock
SW Corner of Loop 610 looking toward downtown in upper right.
Same intersection south of Galleria area. Note complexity where seven streams of traffic intersect.
Looking east toward downtown along Brays just inside of Loop 610 at detention pond. Note sewage treatment plant across bayou.
Looking north across new bridge over Brays along Buffalo Speedway toward Greenway Plaza in background.
Looking NE toward downtown in background along Main Street. Medical Center is in middle of frame.
Looking NE toward downtown where Fannin St. crosses Brays at UT Health Science Center.
Looking NE toward Med Center and downtown in background across another new bridge over Brays. Note the electrical infrastructure next to the bayou.
288 and Brays. Bridge construction on Almeda.
New Bridge over Brays at South 75th.
Looking NE across Brays at new railroad bridge near Tipps Street.
Downstream end of Brays near Buffalo Bayou. The ship canal and Port of Houston are in background.

As these pictures show, flood mitigation funding isn’t all about home value. Brays traverses some of Houston’s most critical infrastructure, job centers, rail lines, diverse neighborhoods and employment centers.

HCFCD describes Project Brays as the largest it has ever managed. To learn more more and see before/after pictures of many improvements, visit Project Brays’ own website.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/3/2021

1374 Days since Hurricane Harvey