The Puente de Trujillo Alto is a Pennsylvania through truss bridge built during 1939–1941 in Puerto Rico in the

Trujillo Alto Trujillo Alto (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Northern Coastal Plain, on the boundary between the karst zone and Sierra de Luquillo, north of Caguas, and Gurabo; southeast of San Juan, and west of Carolina. Trujil ...

municipality of Puerto Rico. At was the longest single-span bridge in Puerto Rico. The bridge construction was funded as part of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

. The supporting structures and bridge were built by Robert Prann, an engineer who established private practice in Puerto Rico, with steel components manufactured by

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

. Crossing above, it spans the

Río Grande de Loíza The Rio Grande de Loíza (English: ''Great River of Loíza'', ''Grande de Loíza'', or just ''Loíza River'') is a river in the island of Puerto Rico. It is the largest river in Puerto Rico by discharge volume. It is situated on the north coast of ...

, the largest river by volume in Puerto Rico. The height was intended to keep this bridge above flooding that had destroyed a previous bridge in 1936. However, in 1945 even this bridge was flooded over and almost carried away. A four-lane concrete bridge was built adjacently during 1983-85 as a replacement, with the historic bridge being slated for demolition, but local protests led to its being kept.

Gallery

Antiguo puente en Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.jpg, Historic bridge Puente de Trujillo Alto.jpg, The bridge in 2018 Pennsylvania Petit Truss in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.jpg, Detail of the bridge

References

Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico Bridges completed in 1941 Steel bridges 1941 establishments in Puerto Rico Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Pennsylvania truss bridges New Deal in Puerto Rico {{PuertoRico-NRHP-stub