Acueducto de Ponce

The Acueducto de Ponce (Ponce Aqueduct), formally Acueducto Alfonso XII,[4] is the name of a historic 2.5-mile[5] gravity-based water supply system in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was designed in 1875 by Timoteo Luberza and built the following years.[6] This aqueduct was the first modern water distribution system built in Puerto Rico.[7]

Acueducto de Ponce
El Murallón de La Cantera[1] portion of the Acueducto Alfonso XII
Coordinates 18°01′17″N 66°36′51″W
BeginsRío Portugués, San Patricio, Ponce, Puerto Rico
18.02085°N 66.61380°W / 18.02085; -66.61380
EndsCerro San Tomas
Barrio Sexto, Ponce, Puerto Rico
18.02085°N 66.61380°W / 18.02085; -66.61380
Official nameAcueducto Alfonso XII
Maintained byMunicipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico
Characteristics
Total length4,100 m (2.5 mi), 4,100 m (4,500 yd)[2]
Width0.52 m (1 ft 8 in) (interior conduit channel only)
Height50 ft (15 m) at highest
Capacity40.51 L/s (1.431 cu ft/s)
History
Construction start21 August 1876
Construction cost$220,000 ($5.28 million in 2019 dollars[3]
Opened1880
Closed1928
References
Reference List

Location

The most iconic part of the aqueduct, its reservoir, it located on the Cerro San Tomas hill, next to sector Mameyes, in the Barrio La Cantera in the city of Ponce.[8]

External audio
You may see Acueducto de Ponce (also includes the Mameyes Memorial) HERE

History

Construction of the aqueduct was heavily promoted in the Ponce newspaper "El Fénix" by Don Eustaquio Quesada and Don Salvador Coronas.[9] Construction started on 21 August 1876.[10] The 1876 construction cost was of $220,000 ($5.28 million in 2019 dollars[3]).[11] It became operational in that year.[11] It was completed in 1880 and it operated for 48 years—until 1928.[12] Its construction was made possible by a generous 54,000 Spanish pesos[13] donation from Valentin Tricoche, who also left in his will moneys for the construction of Hospital Tricoche.[14]

Watershed feeder system

The watershed for the Acueducto de Ponce water supply system consisted of about 30 square kilometers of the valley of the Rio Portugués river. Rio Portugués has its source near the Ponce-Jayuya and Ponce-Adjuntas roads. The watershed approaches the PR-123 road for the first time at kilometer 18 and crosses it at kilometers 19 and 24.[15] In 1915, in the part of the watershed nearest the aqueduct intake there were some 50 houses, five stables, two dairies, and a coffee hacienda. The population of the area was about 50 people. For this reason there was a some concern about potential contamination of the aqueduct water supply.[15]

Description

The aqueduct was 4,100 meters (2.5 mi) long,[16] or approximately 4,442 yards.[17] The gravity-based aqueduct was initially 3,000 meters long from the dam to the reservoir.[18] It was later enlarged to 4,100 meters, but was eventually decommissioned, under the mayoral administration of Guillermo Vivas Valdivieso, when a new, pump-based, water supply system was inaugurated.[19][20] At its highest point the aqueduct rose 50 feet high.[21]

Intake dam

The intake dam for the aqueduct was located at Río Portugués, about 1 kilometer north of the mouth of Rio Chiquito. It was made of a low masonry wall, or diversion weir, and had very little storage capacity. There was a small pool in front of the intake, deep enough to protect it, which was screened to keep out floating debris.[22]

Conduit

The water was carried from the intake to the reservoir in a brick conduit channel. The dimensions of the conduit channel were 0.52 meter wide by 0.55 meter deep. The conduit had a semicircular crown. The conduit ran through land covered with brush and young trees. It also ran through pasture land and old cattle yards. Further south it also passed along the side of a very steep hill and just before reaching the reservoir, it also passed through the Mameyes sector of La Cantera neighborhood.[22]

Reservoir

The reservoir was of brick lined with cement. It was covered. It had a capacity for 2,000 cubic meters. The reservoir was divided into two compartments. The insular government at the time estimated that the reservoir held a one day's supply of water for the city residents which then consisted of a population of 35,000.[22]

Distribution

The main water pipe into the city of Ponce made its way down Calle Atocha crossing Calle Guadalupe, Calle Victoria, Calle Vives, Calle Sol, Calle Isabel, Calle Cristina, and Calle Comercio. There was a block-by-block water distribution system in some 80 blocks, measured in an approximately even area of 9 blocks by 9 blocks. There was running water everywhere in the perimeter of Plaza Las Delicias, as well as outward from Plaza Las Delicias for at least 4 additional blocks.[23]

Disposition

With the advent of more advanced water supply systems, the aqueduct was retired in 1928, and eventually abandoned. It laid in ruins for many decades. In 2015, however, Puerto Rico senator Víctor Vasallo Anadón presented a bill in the Puerto Rico Senate to enact legislation to designate the aqueduct a historic structure worth preserving and secure funds for its preservation.[24] On 9 June 2015, it was voted a National Historic Monument.[25] On 17 June 2015, it was declared a National Historic Monument.[26] It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on 30 December 2019.[27]

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See also
  • Barrio Mameyes
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Ponce, Puerto Rico

References
  1. Anibal Sepúlveda Rivera. Puerto Rico Urbano:Atlas Histórico de la Ciudad Puertorriqueña. San Juan, PR: Carimar, and Puerto Rico's Departamento de Transportación y Obras Publicas. 2004. Volumen 3 [de 4]: Entresiglos 1880s - 1910s. p.40. ISBN 0963342355
  2. Clarksburg Telegram. Clarksburg, West Virginia. Vol XXXVII. Number 38. 29 July 1898. Page 1.
  3. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  4. Acueducto Alfonso XII, Ponce. Tony Zayas (videographer). Sur Comunica. 4 March 2015.
  5. Clarksburg Telegram. Clarksburg, West Virginia. Vol XXXVII. Number 38. 29 July 1898. Page 1.
  6. Sala Panoramica. Seccion de Estructuras Emblematicas. Museo de la Historia de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. March 2011.
  7. Reclaman preservación de centenaria estructura en Ponce. Pedro A. Menéndez Sanabria. El Nuevo Dia. 25 February 2015.
  8. Proponen declarar monumento histórico a un acueducto español en Puerto Rico. Archived 27 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Fox News Latino. 13 February 2015.
  9. Socorro Girón. Ponce, el teatro La Perla y La Campana de la Almudaina. Gobierno Municipal Autónomo de Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1992. p. 94.
  10. Las Fiestas Populares de Ponce y La Villa de Ponce. Ramon Marín. 1875. Ponce, Puerto Rico: Imprenta El Vapor. 72 pages. (Reprinted September 1994. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico. 281 pages. Page 20.[Socorro Girón. "Ramon Marin y su Tiempo." (foreword)]) Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  11. Department, United States War (8 January 1916). "Annual Report of the Secretary of War". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  12. Neysa Rodríguez Deynes. Breviario sobre la Historia de Ponce y sus Principales Lugares de Interes. 1st edition. 1991. Page 170. San Juan, PR: Model Offset Printing.
  13. Diccionario Enciclopédico. Escolar.com. Tomo XVII. Page 98.
  14. AN ACT To declare November 15 of each year as “Philanthropy Day,” to acknowledge and promote valuable and generous philanthropic action of citizens on behalf of the People of Puerto Rico. Senate Bill #1812. Act Number 78. Approved 7 March 2003. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
  15. Annual report of the Secretary of War. United States War Department. Volume III. 1915. Page 84.
  16. Diccionario Enciclopédico. Escolar.com. Tomo XVII. Page 97.
  17. Eli D. Oquendo-Rodriguez. Pablo L. Crespo-Vargas, editor. A Orillas del Mar Caribe: Boceto historico de la Playa de Ponce - Desde sus primeros habitantes hasta principios del siglo XX. First edition. June, 2017. Editorial Akelarre. Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones del Sur Oeste de Puerto Rico (CEISCO). Lajas, Puerto Rico. Page 214. ISBN 978-1547284931
  18. Annual report of the Secretary of War. United States War Department. Volume III. 1915. Page 79.
  19. Ponce: A Historical Sketch Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine Juan Braschi. In, "The Book of Porto Rico. XIX: Principal Cities."] Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Page 1069. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  20. Diccionario Enciclopédico. Tomo XVII. Page 97.
  21. Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, et al., Brevario sobre la historia de Ponce y sus principales lugares de interés. 1991. Museo de la Historia de Ponce. Secretaria de Arte y Cultura. Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. p. 170.
  22. Annual report of the Secretary of War. United States War Department. Volume III. 1915. Page 84. Accessed 3 May 2018.
  23. Timoteo Luberza. Perfil de la Cañeria Principal. In, Planos Acueducto Alfonso XII - Number 3950. Archivo Histórico de Ponce. Box 1, Year 1874.
  24. Reclaman preservación de centenaria estructura en Ponce. Pedro A. Menéndez Sanabria. El Nuevo Dia. 25 February 2015. Accessed 3 May 2018.
  25. Monumento Histórico Nacional el Antiguo Acueducto Alfonso XII, Ley para declarar Monumento Histórico Nacional el Antiguo Acueducto Alfonso XII. Archived 27 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Proyecto de la Camara # 2153. Ley Núm. 84-2015. 9 June 2015.
  26. Acueducto Alfonso XII de Ponce declarado monumento histórico nacional. Ed. Microjuris.com Puerto Rico. 17 June 2015. Accessed 3 May 2018.
  27. National Park Service (3 January 2020), Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 12/27/2019 through 1/3/2020, archived from the original on 8 January 2020, retrieved 8 January 2020.
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