Monday, 14th o July 2003
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
There's this little rickety bridge that leads to the neighborhood where we live. I've driven and biked over it countless times in the 5 years we have lived in Santa Clara. It's narrow, sometimes you have to wait at one side while a large truck passes. There is an area where the concrete barrier is broken away and they have placed temporary moveable barriers to fill in the gap. I have always regarded it as a second rate pile of crap, but since I have to get to my house, I have to pass over it, every - single - day.
I was flicking through the local news channels the other day and I heard the neighborhood Tortugo (through which the little road travels) mentioned, "El puente pasa por el Barrio Tortugo en la carretera vieja de Caguas." Hmm, they call that little lane and a half decent into the valley, the old road to Caguas? Chuckle. Anyway, I listened further.
"The old bridge takes 150 years in that same locale. It was built by the Spanish in 1847, and is in the process of reconstruction by the city of San Juan as part of a restoration project."
I did a little double-take and called Laura. "Hey hon, they're talking about our little bridge. Look, they have pictures. Wow, I never realized what we were passing over all that time. Look at that thing. It's all bricks, just simple brick arches. Geez. And all those semi's go over that thing. They don't build 'em like they used to do they."
Laura expressed her incredulity same as me. "What a beautiful bridge. It's gorgeous. Look at those arches. It's a wonder those concrete and marble trucks didn't make it collapse."
The underside of the bridge, which I had never seen, was remarkable. It was an old brick archway, like old Roman thoroughfare, apparently very resiliant, because it has stood in place for over 150 years with very little maintenance.
I took my bike down into the dry creek bed and took some pictures of the underside, a place I had never seen, and place I never realized existed, but I had passed by above every day for the past five years.