After flowing 31 miles, Brays Bayou meets the Houston Ship Channel at the old site of the town of Harrisburg. It’s one of the most dramatic contrasts on Houston’s bayous.

On one side of the Broadway bridge is a beautiful greenway that @houparksboard is busy connecting all the way to the western reaches of Houston. The bayou flows amongst green banks surrounded by the back yards of the East End.

On the other side are oceangoing ships and refineries.

But Brays is still a working bayou. The lower three quarter mile of the bayou has three docks on it.

So every once a while a towboat pushes a barge under the bridge and upon the bayou.

Deckhands stand at the front corners to guide the captain. (The sign marks the security zone in the ship channel, enforced by Coast Guard boats with mounted guns.)

The cab retracts to fit under the bridge.

A few minutes later, its cargo delivered, the towboat returns.

The passing rider doesn’t bat an eye — industry has been part of these neighborhoods since before either the Ship Channel or the greenway existed.