A Centennial Gem of Cuba’s Civil Engineering

A hundred years after its construction, this work continues to play a major role in guaranteeing the city’s environmental protection and the welfare of its inhabitants.

Declared World Heritage in 1982, the Cuban capital’s historic center is not only one of the most charming enclaves of Spanish colonial architecture in Latin America, but also home to some amazing constructive treasures, like the Bay Tunnel and the city’s sewerage U-bend that together with the Albear Aqueduct, the Central Road, the FOCSA Building, the Bacunayagua Bridge and La Farola Viaduct rank as the seven wonders of Cuba’s civil engineering.

The Invisible, Yet Extraordinary U-Bend The U-bend of Havana’s sewerage system is perhaps the most concealed and unknown engineering works in Cuba. However, thanks to its construction rainfall and cesspool waters were finally separated –they used to flow in simultaneously until then and during the rainy season the intense downpours used to flood those houses that had been built below street level. At that time, the colonial city was consequently a waste-laden city reeking of bad smells. The works started out in 1908 through a sewer system that included a collector or pipeline called Marginal del Norte –running alongside the shoreline– for the cesspool waters coming from that part of town, plus another one dubbed Marginal del Sur, covering the south and west sides of the city with their respective junctions. Both collectors were spliced together under the Arms Square and ran all the way to the Cámara de Rejas del Muelle de Caballería, where the waters are treated by scrapping floating solid wastes and clinching the sedimentation of sands and gravels. Relying on an underwater U-bend of 2.13 meters in diameter and 375 meters long built under the bay, the city’s cesspool waters flow into a suction chamber located on the other side of the cove, in the Casa Blanca area. From there, centrifugal pumps drive the waters as high as La Cabana fortress only to drain down through a 1.52-diameter cast-iron pipe some 147 meters away from the coast and at a depth of 11 meters. The construction of the U-bend tunnel began in 1911 and was completed on April 19, 1912. Following its completion, on June 30, 1915 a total of 294 kilometers of sewers and 150 kilometers of drainages had been built at a final cost of nearly 10 million pesos. However, the work meant to the city of Havana and its residents the opportunity to leave lack of sanitation behind and forget about the threat of cesspool waters flooding out their own houses. The U-Bend Cube: A Genuine Urban Sculpture As a new detail to spruce up the port area from an urban and architectural perspective –and also for didactic purposes– this kind of modern and functional sculpture built on the Port Avenue is now a dream come true. It stands next to the Arms Square in Old Havana. The U-Bend Cube is made up of two parts: a see-through box that depicts the process to the public and another opaque box that guarantees the system’s protection and functionality. At night, the sculpture will function as a light box, just a luring addition to this singular project. Nestled in an area that has embarked on an all-out refurbishment and continues to awe visitors with each passing day, the work becomes both an urban sculpture of tremendous significance for the maritime borderline of the city’s historic center and a place of cultural spread and development aimed at environmental protection. The new design for the Camara de Rejas demanded the talent of creators and builders who eventually used a steel structure covered with Plycem panels and structural glass. They managed to harmonize a contemporary image in a legendary context committed to history and the city’s own heritage values. For a second stage, the Cuba will be hooked up to a median strip that will serve as some kind of walkway hemmed in by lush foliage and information charts on the significance and functions of this centennial work. The recent remodeling of this masterpiece brought together the General Division of Architectural and Urbanism Projects and the Inversiones Fenix Group attached to the Office of the Havana City Historian (OHCH), as well as ACINOX Builder and the Aguas de La Habana Company, among others.