| Puente Colgante Tulay Colgante |
|
|---|---|
Puente de Claveria as seen on October 1, 1875. |
|
| Other name(s) | Claveria Bridge (before 1930s) |
| Carries | Pedestrians and carriages |
| Crosses | Pasig River |
| Locale | Manila |
| Designer | Matias Mechacatorre |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 110 metres (360 ft) |
| Width | 7 metres (23 ft) |
| Number of spans | One |
| Piers in water | None |
| Constructed by | Ynchausti y Compañia |
| Construction begin | 1849 |
| Construction end | 1852 |
| Opened | 1852 |
| Preceded by | Puente de Convalencia (1880) |
| Followed by | Puente Grande (1852) Puente de España (1875) Jones Bridge (1916) |
The Puente Colgante, originally called Puente de Claveria, was a suspension bridge that connected the Manila districts of Quiapo and Ermita across the Pasig River in the Philippines. Designed by the Basque engineer Matias Menchacatorre and completed in 1852, it was the first suspension bridge in Southeast Asia. The bridge was replaced by Quezon Bridge in the 1930s.
Puente Colgante (which is the term for a suspenion bridge in Spanish; literally, hanging bridge) was the first suspension bridge built in Southeast Asia when it was started in 1849 and completed in 1852. It was built and owned by Ynchausti y Compañia, the business headed by Jose Joaquin de Ynchausti.[1] He commissioned the design from Basque engineer Matias Menchacatorre.[2] The bridge was first named Puente de Claveria, likely in honor of the Governor-General of the Philippines Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, who served from 1844-1849.
The suspension bridge measured 110 metres (360 ft) long and 7 metres (23 ft) wide, and had two lanes that allowed passage of horses and carabao-drawn carriages. It was also opened for pedestrians traveling on foot between Quiapo and Intramuros and nearby areas.
In 1854 Ynchausti brought together the Ynchausti family holdings under the above name. A Basque Spaniard born in Cadiz, de Ynchausti immigrated to the Philippines in the second quarter of the nineteenth century and built a business empire.[1] In 1889 Ynchausti y Compañia was the largest company in the Philippines.
The 20th-century writer Nick Joaquin described the bridge as it was in the 1870s: “Across the city’s river now arched … the amazing Puente Colgante, suspended in the air, like a salute to the age of science and engineering. The Industrial Age found its expression in the Philippines in the form of a bridge unparalleled throughout Asia.”[2]
Historians dispute local traditions that say the bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (This is also asserted about the Puente de Ayala.) They note the original bridge has been documented as designed by a Basque.[2] (In addition, the 1930s work was performed a decade after Eiffel died in 1923.)
During the 1930s, the suspension bridge was replaced by a modern steel arch bridge. It was renamed Quezon Bridge after Manuel L. Quezon, the president of the Philippines at that time.