| Río Portugués Río Baramaya, Río Ponce, Río Tibes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portugues River in Ponce, Puerto Rico, looking north fromPuente de Los Leones at Miguel Pou Boulevard (PR-1) | |
 | |
| Etymology | Barrio Tibes |
| Location | |
| Commonwealth | Puerto Rico |
| Municipality | Ponce |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Barrio Portugués,Adjuntas, Puerto Rico |
| • coordinates | 17°59′31.488″N66°35′51.2874″W / 17.99208000°N 66.597579833°W /17.99208000; -66.597579833 |
| • elevation | 2,853 feet (870 m)[3] |
| Mouth | |
• location | Bucaná River |
• elevation | 3 feet (0.91 m)[4] |
| Length | 18.43 mi (29.66 km)[1][2] |
| Basin size | 20.33 mi2 (52.7 km2)[6][7] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 16,000 cu ft/s (450 m3/s)[5] |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Guaraguao San Patricio Tibes Portugués Machuelo Arriba Sexto Quinto Tercero Cuarto San Antón Playa |
| River system | Río Bucaná |
| Tributaries | |
| • right | Chiquito River Corcho River (Adjuntas) |
Río Portugués is a river in the municipality ofPonce, Puerto Rico. In the 19th century, it was also known asRío de Ponce.[8][9] Twenty-one bridges for motor vehicle traffic span Río Portugués in the municipality of Ponce alone.[10] The river is also known asRío Tibes in the area where it flows through barrioTibes in the municipality of Ponce.[11] Río Portugués has a length of nearly 30 kilometers (19 mi) and runs south from theCordillera Central mountain range into theCaribbean Sea. The Portugués is one of the best-known rivers in Ponce because of its prominentzigzagging through the city and itshistorical significance.[12] The river is historically significant because the city of Ponce had its origins on its banks. It was originally known asRío Baramaya (Baramaya River).[13] It has its mouth at17°58′51″N66°37′26″W / 17.98083°N 66.62389°W /17.98083; -66.62389. This river is one of the 14rivers in the municipality.
Río Portugués has its origin in Cerro Guilarte,[14] located the western part ofbarrio Portugués in the bordering municipality ofAdjuntas,[15][a] just north ofPonce, and drains into theCaribbean Sea after running for some 27.6 kilometers (17.1 mi).[16][note 1] The river has a discharge of 16,000 feet3/second.[17] Thetoponymy, or origin of the name, comes from one of its first settlers, Pedro Rodríguez de Guzman, known asel Portugués ("thePortuguese") because his ancestry was fromPortugal.[18][note 2]
Río Chiquito is one of thetributaries of Río Portugués (i.e., Río Chiquito feeds into Río Portugués).[19] In the sectors and sub-barrios that it traverses, the locals call the river by the name of such sector/barrio. Thus names such asRío Cedro,Río Nuez,Río Moscada, andRío Tibes as the unofficial local name of Río Portugués in the sectors known as Cedro, Nuez, Moscada andTibes.[20]
Starting at its origin in Barrio Portugués, Adjuntas, Río Portugués, as it is known locally, begins to form at an altitude of approximately 2,853 feet (870 m) abovesea level.[21] The river then runs in a southerly direction parallel toPR-10 for most of its trajectory, crossing barriosGuaraguao,San Patricio, andTibes. It brushes barrioMachuelo Arriba on its southwestern corner after it crosses PR-10 just west of the intersection of PR-10 andPR-504, immediately north of the Ponce city limits. From there it enters barrioMachuelo Abajo and continues south crossing Avenida Betances/Avenida Tito Castro (PR-14), at a point about half a mile west of the intersection of routesPR-12 and PR-14. A few hundred feet before the Avenida Betances bridge over Río Portugués in the city of Ponce, the river divides barriosSexto, located west of the river, andMachuelo Abajo, to the east. It continues south crossing Calle Guadalupe, at which point it divides barrioQuinto to the west and Machuelo Abajo to the east. This point is just west ofClub Deportivo de Ponce. Several hundred feet further downstream, at Miguel Pou Boulevard–PR-1 andPuente de los Leones–Tricentennial Park, the river divides barriosTercero andSan Antón. Further downstream, the river runs immediately west ofLa Ceiba Park on Calle Comercio (routePR-133) in sector Cuatro Calles. After crossing Calle Comercio, Río Portugués divides barriosCuarto andSan Anton, and continues its southerly course towardsAvenida Las Américas (PR-163).
The following table summarizes the course of the river in terms of roads crossed. Roads are listed as the river flows from its origin in Ponce'sBarrio Guaraguao in the north to the Caribbean Sea in the south (N/A = Data not available):
For flood control purposes, in the 1970s Río Portugués was diverted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers from emptying directly into theCaribbean Sea atPlaya de Ponce to feeding into the Río Bucaná which then empties into the Caribbean Sea. This channelization project started in 1974[24] and was completed in 1997.[25] It was a multimillion-dollar investment, with just the first phase costing $120 million.[26]
The former course of Río Portugués, prior to being diverted and channelized by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the 1970s, followed from the area just north ofAvenida Las Américas/PR-163[27][28] in a south-southwesterly fashion crossing Avenida Las Américas immediately east ofHospital Dr. Pila. It then continued south behind the Governmental Center/Puerto Rico Police Ponce Area headquarters, and followed a trajectory almost parallel to Avenida Hostos (PR-123, formerlyPR-10). It then crossedPR-2 immediately east of the intersection of Avenida Hostos and Ponce Bypass/PR-2, at the sector called "Caracoles". From there the river used to continue flowing southerly, at one point just edging the area wherePlaza del Caribe now stands. This old course then took a sharp westerly turn and crossed Avenida Hostos, at the now historicPuente Río Portugués. From this point it continued running south-southwesterly where it (now, since the newly builtPR-52) crossedPR-52. From here the river flowed another one mile (1.6 km) crossing the low-lying area of BarrioLa Playa at Avenida Padre Noel before draining into the Caribbean Sea about 30 or 40 yards from Avenida Padre Noel, in the area calledVilla Pesquera.
.jpg)
Once the U.S. Corps of Engineers canalized Río Portugués as it flowed through the city of Ponce, the Corps also diverted its course from a south-southwesterly course to a south-southeasterly course. This diversion started immediately south of the river's intersection with Avenida Las Américas.
From Avenida Las Américas the river now flows, channelized, in a south-southeasterly after crossing Avenida Las Américas about a quarter of a mile east ofHospital Dr. Pila. After crossing Avenida Las Américas in downtown Ponce, the river comes to the location where in the 1970s it was diverted by the US Corps of Engineers from a southwesterly path to its current southeasterly path. Taking a sharp easterly turn, Río Portugués enters barrioSan Antón, and crosses routePR-12/Avenida Malecon about one quarter of a mile north of PR-12's intersection withPR-2. Shortly thereafter the river bends to become southbound and crosses route PR-2, about one quarter of a mile east of PR-2's intersection with PR-12. The river then borders theJulio Enrique Monagas Family Park on the park's western edge until, still canalized, it feeds into Bucaná River about half a mile south of PR-2. The point where Río Portugués feeds into Río Bucaná is about one quarter of a mile north of PR-52 (a.k.a., Autopista Luis A. Ferré) and can be seen from the southbound side of PR-52.
After this point Río Portugués is no longer called Río Portugués. It becomes Río Bucaná (Bucaná River) and divides barriosPlaya on its western bank and barrioBucaná on its eastern bank. From there the river continues flowing in southerly course as a single canalized river for half-mile, crossing Autopista Luis A. Ferré/PR-52. Another one mile (1.6 km) of southerly flow and the river empties as a single stream into the Caribbean Sea just east ofLa Guancha, safely avoiding most low-laying populated areas.[29]
Today Río Portugués is one of the most popular rivers for swimming in southern Puerto Rico.[30]
In 1986, the U.S. Congress approved funding to build thePortugués Dam for Río Portugués about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Ponce. Construction began in April 2008[31] and, when finished, the dam will be the first roller-compacted concrete thick arch dam built anywhere in U.S. soil by theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[32][33] The Cerrillos Dam overRío Cerrillos was finished in 1992, and had also been approved by Congress in 1986. The cost to build the Portugués Dam is over $192 million.[34]
The dam will consist of a dike of 220 feet high by 1,230 feet wide. It will use 368,000 cubic yards of compressed concrete. As of 22 March 2009, 88 percent of the concrete work had been completed. Its scheduled completion date is 2013. The total investment is $375 millionUSD.[35]
In 1971, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Foreman, owners of the Adjuntas property where Río Portugués originates, granted the development rights of their property in Adjuntas to the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, thereby establishing the first scenic and conservation easement in Puerto Rico. The deed of easement and its restrictive covenants protect a 40-acre (160,000 m2) tract of land that includes the headwaters of Río Portugués. Although the title to the land remains with the Foreman family, the easement restricts the use of the land, safeguarding its trees, vegetation, and other natural resources against destruction or alteration in perpetuity. Today, 42 acres (170,000 m2) of Río Portugués scenic easement in Adjuntas's humid forest are a protected entity of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico.[36]
An important archeological finding, labeled "PO-29: Jácana", was made on the banks of the river. Artifacts were transferred to Jacksonville, Florida and then returned to a museum in Puerto Rico.[37][38]
