Timoteo Luberza de San Martín (ca. 1820 - ca. 1895) was a nineteenth-century Puerto Rican

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

from

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

. He was responsible for the 1875 Ponce water supply system, including the dam in

Rio Portugues Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

, and the ''Calle del Agua'' masonry arch aqueduct in barrio

Portugues Urbano Portugues and variants may refer to: * Portugués, Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, a barrio *Portugués Rural or just Portugués, one of the 31 barrios in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico *Portugués Urbano, one of the 31 barrios in the municipality ...

in Ponce. In 1864, he served briefly as mayor of the nearby town of

Yauco Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana Grande ...

. He is best remembered for designing

Plaza del Mercado de Ponce Plaza del Mercado de Ponce (English: Ponce Market Plaza) or, formally, Plaza del Mercado Isabel Segunda (often abbreviated as Plaza del Mercado Isabel II), is a historic marketplace building in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was inaugurated in 1863 by P ...

Works

Luberza was Public Works Inspecting Engineer for Puerto Rico's Western District. Luberza also designed aqueducts,

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s, and various buildings. In 1878, he owned

hacienda A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...

''Retiro'' in

Barrio Vayas Vayas is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Playa, Bucana, Canas and Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of Ponce's five coastal barrios. Together with Capitanejo, Vayas is also one of two rural coastal ba ...

Ponce-Juana Diaz and Coamo-Aibonito roads

In 1858, he designed the road from Ponce to Juana Diaz and, in 1861, the road from Coamo to Aibonito, parts of the Carretera Central.

Plaza del Mercado de Ponce

In the early 1860s, Luberza designed Ponce's Plaza del Mercado Isabel II (Market place). The marketplace opened in 1863 under the mayoral administration of Luis de Quixano. Its design was a reduced model of the Paris Marketplace.

Bridge Number 173

With a budget of 15,405 Spanish

peso The peso is the monetary unit of several Hispanophone, Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, as well as the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries of the Americas, the symbol com ...

s, he also designed Bridge Number 173 over Río Las Minas in barrio San Idelfonso,

Coamo, Puerto Rico Coamo (, ) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. The ...

. It was completed in 1862, and rebuilt in 1898 by the US Army Corps of Engineers, after being partly destroyed by the Spanish to keep the American invaders from advancing north towards

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

at the Battle of Asomante. Bridge 173 is 6.7 meters long. It is on the road between Coamo and

Juana Díaz Juana is a Spanish female name. It is the feminine form of ''Juan'' (English ''John''), and thus corresponds to the English names Jane, Jean, Joan, and Joanna. The feminine diminutive form (male equivalent to ''Johnny'') is Juanita (equival ...

, at kilometer 30.4 of

PR-14 Puerto Rico Highway 14 (PR-14) is a main highway connecting Ponce to Cayey, Puerto Rico. The road runs the same course as the historic Carretera Central. The Ponce-to- Coamo section of PR-14 was built under the direction of Spanish engineer Ra ...

, and it is the only original and still standing bridge on the southern section of the Carretera Central.

Ponce aqueduct

Luberza designed the Ponce aqueduct system, called " Acueducto Alfonso XII". It was long. Construction of the aqueduct started on 21 August 1876. The 1876 cost was $220,000 U.S. dollars. It became operational in that year. It was completed in 1880 and it operated for 48 years—until 1928. At its highest point the aqueduct rose 50 feet high. It was made possible by a generous 54,000 Spanish pesos donation from Valentin Tricoche, who also left in his will moneys for the construction of a hospital,

Hospital Tricoche Albergue Caritativo Tricoche or Hospital Tricoche (English: ''Tricoche Charitable Shelter'' or ''Tricoche Hospital'') is a historic building located on Calle Tricoche street in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in the city's historic district. It was designed ...

.''AN ACT To declare November 15 of each year as “Philanthropy Day,” to acknowledge and promote valuable and generous philanthropic action of citizens on behalf of the People of Puerto Rico.''
S. B. 1812. Act Number 78. Approved March 7, 2003. Retrieved 27 December 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luberza, Timoteo Architects from Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce Creole architects Year of birth uncertain