[ Marqués de la Serna Bridge ]

"The Marques de la Serna bridge is named after the marquis of Serna, Felix Maria de Messina, who was governor of Puerto Rico from 1862 to 1865. It is the first metal bridge to have been built in the Island, and the only metal arch bridge that exists in Puerto Rico. The iron elements were brought from France. The bridge was assembled by Isidoro Abarca, Founder of Abarca Foundry, over the rubble masonry abutments of an older wooden bridge as part at the Cataño-Bayamón highway, one of the first in Puerto Rico and an important link between San Juan Bay and the agricultural land to the South and West.Between 1881 and the early 1900s the bridge also served the Línea Ferrea del Oeste Railroad. For that purpose, two of the arches were reinforced in 1881." --Description from Historic American Engineering Record, Southeast Region National Park Service Department of the Interior, Marqués de la Serna Bridge.