The submerged wall of the Bocagrande canal in Cartagena de Indias, a defensive work by the military engineer Antonio de Arévalo (1769- 1788)

• Jorge Galindo-Díaz ^[1] ; Joan Fontás-Serrat ^[2]
  1. [1] Universidad Nacional de Colombia

     Universidad Nacional de Colombia

     Colombia

     
  2. [2] Universitat de Girona

     Universitat de Girona

     Gerona, España

     
• Localización: FORTMED 2026. Defensive Architecture of the Mediterranean Vol XXIV / Michele Russo (ed. lit.), Marta Acierno (ed. lit.), 2026, ISBN 978-84-1396-413-3, págs. 449-456
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • Executed between 1769 and 1786, the so-called Bocagrande breakwater is an underwater structure constructed to prevent ships from entering the Bocagrande opening, between Tierrabomba Island and Icacos Point, on the peninsula of the same name. Although this strait was used for decades to access the Bay of Cartagena de Indias, in 1640 passage through the canal became blocked, forcing the exclusive use of the Bocachica entrance. However, the natural reopening of Bocagrande a century later necessitated the development of a project to close it artificially, which was entrusted to the military engineer Antonio de Arévalo. The submerged wall was approximately 3,600 yards long (approximately 3 km), and its construction required not only a detailed survey of the coasts adjacent to the canal, but also the location of the quarries—the source of raw materials for the project—as well as the layout of the dike and the different types of breakwaters that had to be built according to its position and function. This paper aims to describe this unique military structure, emphasizing its constructive aspects, relying on primary sources and establishing parallels with the contents of some contemporary treaties and similar projects in other fortified ports.v