Origin, evolution, and constructive elements of the Estrada de Mangaratiba, the first highway in Brazil

ABSTRACT

This article discusses historical aspects related to route choice, construction techniques, and degeneration of the Estrada Imperial de Mangaratiba, first highway in Brazil, inaugurated in 1857. Built to facilitate the flow of coffee produced in the Paraíba Valley and south of Minas Gerais, the Estrada de Mangaratiba has its history associated with important events of the period that influenced its conception and its decline after operating for a short period. Thousands of men worked on its construction, engaged in cutting the forest, ground levelling and, above all, in activities related to dismantling, transporting and preparing tons of rocks, its main raw material. The field research revealed that the stones exposed today in sections of the road that are not asphalt paved correspond to the foundations of the old road, which was built according to the method of the Scottish engineer Thomas Telford under the coordination of the English Edward Brainerd Webb, and not to an upper pavement, as popularly accepted. The Estrada do Atalho, which precedes it, has records of paving models, compatible with techniques inherited from the ancient Romans. All the rocks used on both roads are of local origin, extracted using explosives from deposits located on the sides of the roads, including the Ponte Bela stonework, popularly considered to be of Portuguese origin.

KEYWORDS:
Stone Masonry; Paving History; Landscape; Empire of Brazil