The Dos Hermanos Bridge (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Puente Dos Hermanos'') is a bridge in

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 ...

, the capital

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Crossing over the

Condado Lagoon Condado Lagoon () is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is an effluent body of water that flows freely between the Condado and Miramar neighborhoods of Santurce, a barrio of San Juan. Background Its tributary stream of water forms part of t ...

, it connects the district of Condado in the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

of Santurce with the land entrance to

San Juan Islet San Juan Islet ( Spanish: ''Isleta de San Juan'') is a islet or small island on San Juan Bay in the Atlantic coast of northern Puerto Rico. Home to Old San Juan, it is the site of the oldest permanent European settlement in Puerto Rico (1521), ...

, which is where the historic quarter of

Old San Juan Old San Juan () is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the San Juan Islet, islet of San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, ...

is located. The bridge was designed and built by brothers Hernand and

Sosthenes Behn Sosthenes Behn (January 30, 1884 – June 6, 1957) was an American businessman, and the founder of ITT. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. Biography Early years Sosthenes Behn was born in the island of St. Thomas, then pa ...

, opening in May 22, 1910.

Etymology

The bridge is named "Dos Hermanos", which translates to "Two Brothers", after the brothers Hernan and Sosthenes Benn who built it in 1910.

History

The Behn Brothers, Hernan and Sosthenes, arrived at Puerto Rico in 1906 from

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas (, , ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of t ...

. They were the founders of the Porto Rico Telephone Company, and decided to create a 150-acre real estate development in Santurce. This project became what is now known as Condado. To help with the process, the Behn Brothers built permanent bridges to facilitate the access, and people quickly started calling the main bridge "Dos Hermanos". In 1999, a project of reconstruction and restoration of the bridge started. However, it had to be halted for not counting with the necessary permits. The project was restarted on July 4, 2011, and the new bridge was inaugurated in December 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dos Hermanos Bridge Buildings and structures in San Juan, Puerto Rico Bridges completed in 1910 Bridges in Puerto Rico Transportation in San Juan, Puerto Rico 1910 establishments in Puerto Rico