Mavilla Bridge under construction, 1903. National Archives and Records Administration, Photograph and Prints Division, Records of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, General Photographs of Cuba and Puerto Rico, 1899-1928: Box RG 350-PR-44A-1-9, College Park, Maryland.
The Development of Hydraulic Mortars, Cement, and Concrete in Puerto Rico
Public schools built throughout the island between 1910 and 1917. From E. Fernández García, ed., El Libro de Puerto Rico (San Juan: El Libro Azul Publishing, Co., 1923): 395..
The building Industry in Puerto Rico underwent significant changes with the introduction of hydraulic mortars brought by sixteenth century European colonizers. Hydraulic mortars have been used in construction in Puerto Rico since the mid-sixteenth century when it became part of the offshore Spanish territory in 1493 and quickly inherited the building traditions of its colonizers. This research focuses on the specific evolution of the hydraulic crushed-brick mortars brought by the Spaniards to the New World, and specifically to Puerto Rico. It traces the standardization of this technology since colonial times, mainly through public-works projects. In the early 20th century, this technology would evolve with the introduction and preference for portland cement. The present study has begun to trace the development of the early uses of hydraulic mortars, cement, and concrete in Puerto Rico. This initial research helps explain the rapid introduction of concrete construction by the first decades of the twentieth century and the reasons why the local cement industry was and still is so successful locally.
Puerto Rico Island Penitentiary, or Oso Blanco, c. 1938. From Antonio M. Monteagudo and Antonio M. Escámez, ed. Album de Oro de Puerto Rico (La Habana: Artes Gráficas, s.a., 1939): 293.
First cement plant in Puerto Rico, 1936. From Francisco Gaztambide Vega and Pedro P. Arán, La Isla de Puerto Rico (New York: Rand McNally & Company, 1945): 108.
Oso Blanco portland cement advertisement, c. 1928. From Guía de Teléfono – Porto Rico Telephone Company 1928, Archivo General de Puerto Rico.
An article written by civil engineer Earl K. Burton published in the Revista de Obras Públicas de Puerto Rico (Public Works Magazine of Puerto Rico) in 1924 and entitled “El Uso del Hormigón Armado (The Use of Reinforced Concrete)” sums it up as follows: “Which are the reasons that the use of reinforced concrete has become so popular in Puerto Rico? In the first place, the materials and workmanship needed for this construction type are economical and abundant throughout the Island. Ground stone and high quality sand can be obtained in any quantity and economically from our mountains and rivers. The cement, the wood for the molds or form-work, and the reinforcement materials can be obtained from the United States or Europe, oftentimes at a less cost than when sold near the production centers...
Puerto Rico
Category: Research & Publication
The Development of Hydraulic Mortars, Cement, and Concrete in Puerto Rico
Making cement blocks by hand as part of student training, the Polytechnic Institute of Porto Rico in San Germán, c. 1910. Museo Histórico de la Universidad Interamericana de San Germán: Rev. J. Will Harris Collection, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, San Germán campus.
HONOR AWARDS
2012
Another reason for the popularity of reinforced concrete is the natural ability of the local masons and workmen in the execution of the structures. Prior to the introduction of reinforced concrete to Puerto Rico, the usual type of building was that of brick and rubble-masonry [mampostería], which are similar to concrete, especially in the [preparation of] mixes and in the application of the mortar. Therefore the workmen use concrete “like ducks to water”…the major impulse given to the use of reinforced concrete was its adoption by the Public Buildings Division of the Department of the Interior for public projects and buildings throughout the Island.” Local masons coming from a Spanish-based building tradition were already familiar with preparing and applying mixes and utilizing products similar to hydraulic mortar and reinforced concrete as they had done for the past 400-some years in Puerto Rico. As such, the common belief that hydraulic mortars were largely lost to history from their invention by the Romans until Smeaton’s work in the eighteenth century is clearly not the case. Subsequent Spanish colonies in the New World, like Puerto Rico, continued the long-lived practices of using hydraulic pozzolanic lime mortars until the arrival and popularization of portland cement in the early twentieth century.
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration reinforced-concrete apartment building called El Falansterio, built to withstand “fire, hurricane and earthquake,” 1938. From Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration [PRRA], Puerto Rico - A Guide to the Island of Boriquén (New York: The University Society, Inc., 1940) between pages 204-205. World War II reinforced-concrete bunkers built on Isla de Cabras, 1941. From San Juan National Historic Site, Military Archives, National Park Service.
Aerial view of Ponce Corporation, 1949. From General de Puerto Rico, Fotográfico, Colección [Ponce].
Cement Archivo Archivo Mirabal
Puerto Rican masons repairing the city walls of San Juan, 1935. From San Juan National Historic Site, Military Archives, National Park Service.
Roman Engineering It was important to visit sites within Italy which maintained an ample stock of its historic fabric. Italian professionals have been effectively dating interventions through time, by utilizing bricks or tiles with the date of the work, or by changing the color, texture or through the indented placement of intervention patches. This process effectively identifies the evolution of conservation means and methods and facilitates the identification of compatible interventions.
188 Days in Italy
Masonry buildings make-up most of the patrimony that has survived through time in the Spanish Caribbean region. Visiting completed and on-going conservation projects was essential for this project in order to re-document traditional Roman building technologies that form the basis of Spanish-influenced colonial structures in the Greater Antilles. These site experiences would further enhance the historic preservation and conservation knowledge which forms the essence of my professional practice. During project visits, I met Italian professionals who were either responsible for, or the consultants to architectural conservation projects; who were experts in the building technologies that were of interest to me; or who were professors teaching topics I wanted to investigate. As such, my research was focused on visiting and studying projects in Italy that were of the utmost relevance for the protection and conservation of cultural sites and structures in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The Italian cities and projects visited offered a fresh look at approaches to historic preservation issues in our region. This six-month sojourn provided the opportunity to re-visit and time to re-affirm the professional concepts we are pursuing in our projects and teaching work today. These re-encounters with my initial concerns in architectural conservation issues will undoubtedly enrich and refresh my future work in the Spanish Caribbean. On the right are only a few examples of the data collected as part of these investigations.
iTALY AND PUERTO RICO
Category: RESEARCH / Publication
188 Days in Italy - A Renewed Encounter with Architectural Conservation
A Renewed Encounter with Architectural Conservation
HONOR AWARDS
2012
Cement & Concrete
These materials are among the recent building technologies that were investigated, since structures mostly built from the 1910s-1950s presently require preservation world-wide. Modernist buildings by important Italian designers such as Pierreluigi Nervi, Enrico Del Debbio, Luigi Moretti, and Riccardo Morandi who took concrete technologies to new heights were studied. In particular, I looked at structures built utilizing modified reinforced concrete technologies, mostly utilized during WWII when steel was scarce or unavailable.
Shelters
All historic sites require some type of contemporary physical cover or shelter whether it be short or long term. Most of these structures are not given much thought and oftentimes become an un-wanted permanent fixture. Successful designs of shelters for important sites in Sicilia, such as the Villa del Casale at Piazza Armerina and Ercolano in Napoli were visited and provided important experiences.
Earthquake Since the Caribbean region is also an active seismic zone, it was important to visit projects that had shored-up, repaired and reconstructed historic buildings after an earthquake. Two major Italian earthquakes, that which occurred in 1997 in the region of Umbria and included the collapse of three major segments of the original roof of the 12th century Basilica di San Francesco d’Assisi, and that which happened in 2009 at L’Aquila were studied in depth and visited.
Rehabilitation In order to guarantee the success of an architectural conservation procedure, thorough knowledge and understanding of the properties characterizing the raw materials and the building techniques of a specific structure are needed. If design and technical compatibilities are achieved, the proposed conservation project will be successful from an economic, technological, aesthetic and theoretical point of view.
Saving Cultural Heritage in Crisis Areas
Interpretation Volumetric reconstructions and 3D digital formats have proven successful means to explain no longer existing structures in Italy. Iron reinforcement bars and metal plates were welded to provide the interpretation of the shape, volume, and decoration of an Etruscan stone structure without being literal. The ruins of Roman dwellings were brought back to life through the digital graphic reconstruction of their original surface decorations.
Diagnosis, Scientific Analysis of Building Materials and Code Compliance Interests in teaching Architectural Conservation Laboratory courses took us to the Politecnico di Milano University. Through the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale’s outstanding analytical scientific labs, we met with the professionals running it to discuss their involvement as a Standards Laboratory for Italy. Their research has put them at the forefront of building diagnosis and technical testing.
Italian Studies in Architectural Conservation As Lecturer and Director of an Architectural Conservation Laboratory, I visited and met key professionals who shed light on methods and topics utilized in teaching Architectural Conservation in Italy. For this reason I visited three Italian Schools of Architecture: La Sapienza, Roma Tre and Università Gabriele d'Annunzio to meet with their professors and obtain their publications.
Disaster prevention and model programs to protect cultural heritage in case of natural disasters formed part of this seminar and included earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis. Looting archaeological sites, site flooding for the construction of a dam, illegal traffic of art, and war stood out among the man-made crisis. As moderator of a session, I had the opportunity to participate actively.
2012 HONOR AWARDS
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Category: Research Publication
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