Peru's Bridges: Puente Miguel Grau (2)

A view of an arch span and the approach structure on the east side of Puente Miguel Grau.

The stone walls have buttresses to hold back the soil that supports the roadway. Note the handsome balustrade (supporting lampposts) at the top of the wall and a gated stairway near the end of the structure.

The sidewalk widens on the east side, allowing people to congregate. The west approach has a traffic circle and a statue of Miguel Grau.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Miguel Grau (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Miguel Grau (1)

A photo of Puente Miguel Grau across La Marina Blvd and Rio Chili. I'm not sure why a bridge named after Admiral Grau (a Chilean who fought a war against Peru) is in Arequipa. Perhaps he is respected for his courage.


The bridge is a closed spandrel, stone masonry, multiple span arch in the 'Centro Historico' part of Arequipa.  I think the handsome arches are done a disservice by the water main hanging from the parapet. Unlike the lacy railing on Puente Bolognesi, this bridge has a stone railing along the edge of the deck. 


Note that the bridge was constructed in a similar manner to the ancient Roman bridges. A stone pier supports a cut stone arch with bossed facing stones. Bridge construction began in 1884 and was completed in 1898. It has quite a bit of damage: some the result of earthquakes, but most the result of its age. We'll take a closer look at this interesting structure tomorrow.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Miguel Grau (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Francisco Bolognesi (2)

A slightly out-of-focus photo of Puente Francesco Bolognesi over the Rio Chili. One of the volcanos that surround Arequipa (probably Nevado Chachani) can be seen through the arch on the left.  The volcano is 6100 meters tall and towers over Arequipa which is at 2200 meters above sea level.

Rio Chili looks like a fast-moving whitewater river in this photo. The river and the mountains make Arequipa a popular tourist destination for young people who enjoy the outdoors.

Peru is a very pretty country with many people dressed in embroidered jackets and tiny hats, with a mixture of Spanish colonial and Incan architecture, and an abundance of llamas.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Francisco Bolognesi (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Francisco Bolognesi (1)

Eventually, we arrived in the lovely city of Arequipa, which is home to a variety of old and new bridges.

Puente Francisco Bolognesi is an old stone masonry closed spandrel arch bridge. It consists of five spans over the busy La Marina Blvd and Rio Chili.

This bridge resembles the Puente de Toledo in Madrid with its round turrets between the arches. However, the Puente Francisco Bolognesi has a delicate iron railing instead of a heavy stone parapet along the edge of the deck.

Puente Bolognesi is the oldest bridge in Arequipa. Construction began in 1577 by the architect Juan de Aldana and it was completed in 1608 at a cost of 150,000 pesos.

Peru's Bridges: Puente Francisco Bolognesi (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.