Last updated: July 2, 2024
Place
Puente Río Inabón
Photograph by Juan Llanes Santos, Courtesy of Puerto Rico Historic Preservation Office
Quick Facts
Location:
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Significance:
Engineering, Transportation
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference Number 100010383
MANAGED BY:
Puerto Rico Government
The Puente Río Inabón (Inabón River Bridge), in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2024 for the important role it played in transportation in Puerto Rico. The bridge was built from 1918-1919 as part of a larger transportation project.
During the 19th century, a road was in the space that would eventually be used for the Puente Río Inabón. The road, titled Carretera Núm. 3, was identified among the most significant ones island wide. Its identification number indicated that the road was the third one in importance, preceded by the mighty Carretera Central and Carretera Núm. 2. Carretera Núm. 3 became the travel-way starting in Rio Piedras, running east through Carolina, Loiza, Rio Grande, Luquillo, Fajardo, Ceiba, Humacao, Naguabo, Yabucoa, Maunabo, Arroyo, Patillas, Guayama, Salinas, Coamo, Santa Isabel, Juana Diaz, and meeting Carretera Núm. 2 at Ponce.
Carretera Núm. 3 became associated with the highly productive agricultural areas of the coastal plains, both on the east coast and in the southern coastal valley. As sugarcane production became the dominant activity on the island in the first decades of the 20th century, the significance of the road grew accordingly. Slowly, the road became the main artery for land transportation on the eastern and southern coast. Over time, the lack of dependable bridges became a prominent transportation issue. Between the commercially dominating city of Ponce and the production centers of Juana Diaz, Santa Isabel and Coamo, Carretera Núm. 3 was intercepted by six rivers flowing from north to south: Portugués, Bucaná, Inabón, Jacaguas, Descalabrado and Coamo.
During the 19th century and the early years of the 20th, none of these rivers had a proper bridge built upon it. Pedestrians and old oxcarts crossed the rivers’ beds at the lowest points (vados) on a daily basis. The rainy season, however, flooded these rivers causing great inconvenience and creating dangerous situations for the regular traffic, interrupting the passage and making it necessary for the waters to go down to be able to cross them. The increase in the economic significance of the route made this situation unacceptable. Early in 1917, a reinforced concrete bridge was built over the Portugués River. On April 12, 1917, the Legislative Assembly approved Law No. 51 which was to provide for the construction of five bridges over the Bucaná, Inabón, Jacaguas, Descalabrado and Coamo rivers, on the Ponce-Guayama highway. The Puente Río Inabón is the only one remaining out of the structures proposed and built as part of that governmental project.
On May 6, 1918, the Department of the Interior publicly announced it was accepting bids for the construction of Puente Río Inabón. Eventually, the project was granted to the firm Pirazzi & Vecchini (Nereo Pirazzi and Pablo Vecchini), who offered to construct the bridge for $34,000. The contract was signed on June 29, 1918, with works to be initiated by July 9 and to be completed by May 9, 1919. With a delay of few months, due to excessive rains, the new Puente Río Inabón was opened to the traffic on June 26, 1919.
The bridge is a great example of the innovative application of reinforced concrete as a construction material in the early years of the 20th century, showing its dexterity, malleability and resilience in a subtle Neoclassical Revival style. Puente Río Inabón is significant as it is a great example of one of the early works of Rafael Nones, one of the most prolific engineers of the 20th century.
During the 19th century, a road was in the space that would eventually be used for the Puente Río Inabón. The road, titled Carretera Núm. 3, was identified among the most significant ones island wide. Its identification number indicated that the road was the third one in importance, preceded by the mighty Carretera Central and Carretera Núm. 2. Carretera Núm. 3 became the travel-way starting in Rio Piedras, running east through Carolina, Loiza, Rio Grande, Luquillo, Fajardo, Ceiba, Humacao, Naguabo, Yabucoa, Maunabo, Arroyo, Patillas, Guayama, Salinas, Coamo, Santa Isabel, Juana Diaz, and meeting Carretera Núm. 2 at Ponce.
Carretera Núm. 3 became associated with the highly productive agricultural areas of the coastal plains, both on the east coast and in the southern coastal valley. As sugarcane production became the dominant activity on the island in the first decades of the 20th century, the significance of the road grew accordingly. Slowly, the road became the main artery for land transportation on the eastern and southern coast. Over time, the lack of dependable bridges became a prominent transportation issue. Between the commercially dominating city of Ponce and the production centers of Juana Diaz, Santa Isabel and Coamo, Carretera Núm. 3 was intercepted by six rivers flowing from north to south: Portugués, Bucaná, Inabón, Jacaguas, Descalabrado and Coamo.
During the 19th century and the early years of the 20th, none of these rivers had a proper bridge built upon it. Pedestrians and old oxcarts crossed the rivers’ beds at the lowest points (vados) on a daily basis. The rainy season, however, flooded these rivers causing great inconvenience and creating dangerous situations for the regular traffic, interrupting the passage and making it necessary for the waters to go down to be able to cross them. The increase in the economic significance of the route made this situation unacceptable. Early in 1917, a reinforced concrete bridge was built over the Portugués River. On April 12, 1917, the Legislative Assembly approved Law No. 51 which was to provide for the construction of five bridges over the Bucaná, Inabón, Jacaguas, Descalabrado and Coamo rivers, on the Ponce-Guayama highway. The Puente Río Inabón is the only one remaining out of the structures proposed and built as part of that governmental project.
On May 6, 1918, the Department of the Interior publicly announced it was accepting bids for the construction of Puente Río Inabón. Eventually, the project was granted to the firm Pirazzi & Vecchini (Nereo Pirazzi and Pablo Vecchini), who offered to construct the bridge for $34,000. The contract was signed on June 29, 1918, with works to be initiated by July 9 and to be completed by May 9, 1919. With a delay of few months, due to excessive rains, the new Puente Río Inabón was opened to the traffic on June 26, 1919.
The bridge is a great example of the innovative application of reinforced concrete as a construction material in the early years of the 20th century, showing its dexterity, malleability and resilience in a subtle Neoclassical Revival style. Puente Río Inabón is significant as it is a great example of one of the early works of Rafael Nones, one of the most prolific engineers of the 20th century.