Projects (1755-1887)

Background for port projects for Buenos Aires

The first proposals to install an specific dock for the vessels were made during the second half of 18th century, none of them were carried out until the construction of Puerto Madero due to, first, the resistance of Spain, and later due to the internal political fights and lack of resources in the newborn Republic.

Among the first projects can be mentioned the by of Juan de Echevarría in 1755, and another by Francisco de Vianes in 1761. Eng. Francisco Rodríguez y Cardoso designed in 1771 a port with a rectangular inner harbor with an entrance in its east side. It had a capacity calculated for 300 boats.

The only one project that could be partially accomplished belonged to Pedro Antonio Cerviño (1795-1802) and it consisted in a pier of 200 metres built in the Bajo de la Merced. However, only 70 metres were built, which were destroyed by a storm in 1805.

In 1805, during the viceroyalty of Sobremonte the hydraulic Eng. Eustaquio Giannini came with the objective of recreate the port area, projecting the first intent in this direction. It consisted in canalizing the Riachuelo from the current Plaza de Mayo to Barracas.

Between 1810 and 1811 with the foundation of the Republic, plans were generated by Mariano Moreno, member of the First Board, to improve the port of Ensenada, as well as works to allow a part of the Riachuelo shore line to act as landing place and buoying of the entry channel.

During the government of Martín Rodríguez was hired hydraulic Eng.l Santiago Bevans, who presented three proposals in 1823. One in Retiro with an overseas port and another domestic port, the second consisted of a Dock in the current La Boca quartier, linked to the Riachuelo through a channel, and the third, complementary of this one. The following year Guillermo Micklejon presented proposals which consisted in gaining land to the river for urban development, complemented with a inner harbor with docks.

Between 1827 and 1852 the confederal regime was established. It was a period of great institutional unstability, which derived in the separation of Buenos Aires from the Confederation in 1852. This made difficult the political and economical union of the Nation.

Eng. Carlos Pellegrini was one of the first to present, in 1853, a project of a port right on the urban front, away from the previous proposals that were focused on the Riachuelo. His idea consisted of a dock with an entry inner harbor (anticipatory version of Puerto Madero).

In 1855 began the erection of the then called New Customs, on the urban coast front. Designed by the English Eng. Edward Taylor, it consisted of a prominent building with a semicircular front that ended with a ramp entering the River Plate.

In 1859, Eng Coghlan presented a project that was similar to Bevans' proposal (1823). It had three inner harbors located on the urban front that extended to La Boca, taking advantage of the subject-to-flooding land.

Under Sarmiento's presidency, in 1871, Eng. Juan Bateman was hired. Based on not solid studies, he proposed a wide inner harbor on the coast line, close to Plaza de Mayo, with access from the nort. This inner harbor communicated with the south through a channel that linked it with the Riachuelo. The project was soon discarded.

In 1872, Eng. J. Revy, who had previously worked with Bateman, presented a proposal which again insists on the axis of the Riachuelo. It was based on three interconnected docks, on the south shore of the Riachuelo. Although this initiative did not succeed, it served to bring the attention again to the need to solve the port issue.

Different from al the other proposals, there are Manuel Tudury's (1853) and Eng. Guillermo Rigoni (1875). The first one consisted of docks far apart from the coast, and the second one, conceived as a big inner harbor with a big bottle shape with a circular zone in the center, allowing vessels to enter and exit through a side entry.