Manatí Bridge at Mata de Plátano

Manatí Bridge at Mata de Plátano, also known as Puente Juan José Jiménez and listed as Bridge #321 in Puerto Rico's bridge inventory, was built in 1905 in Barrio Hato Viejo, Ciales, Puerto Rico. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.[1][2]

Manatí Bridge at Mata de Plátano
Manatí Bridge at Mata de Plátano
Location of the bridge in Puerto Rico
LocationHighway 6685, km 9.7
Hato Viejo, Ciales municipality, Puerto Rico
Coordinates18°21′32″N 66°28′45″W
Built1905
ArchitectNinlliat, Luis
Architectural styledouble intersection Pratt
MPSHistoric Bridges of Puerto Rico MPS
NRHP reference No.95000847[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 19, 1995

It was the first truss bridge built in Puerto Rico under the American administration (1898–1900) after the Spanish–American War.

The bridge spans 80 metres (260 ft) above the Río Grande de Manatí. For Puerto Rico, the span is high, 44 feet (13 m) above the river, "above a spectacular curving canyon of vertical walls traversed by the Manati River". It is a rare type of bridge: a steel double intersection Pratt truss, above a concrete substructure, and is the only such highway bridge in Puerto Rico. Its roadway is 3.8 metres (12 ft) wide.[3]:

At least 10 railway bridges used the double intersection Pratt truss design, in the French-owned railway that was built during 1890-93 between San Juan and Ponce. Only Cambalache Bridge, across the Arecibo River, survived, as of 1994. The rest were dismantled and sold to cover a bankruptcy by the railroad company that owned them.[4]:16

Views of the canyon and Río Grande de Manatí from Manatí Bridge at Mata de Plátano:

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands Division". U.S. Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. "Manatí Bridge at Mata de Plátano". National Park Service. July 31, 1994. Retrieved 2016-05-18. with 2 photos from 1989-93
  4. Luis F. Pumarada O'Neill (July 31, 1994). "Historic Bridges of Puerto Rico, c. 1840 - 1950". National Park Service. p. 10. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.