Repairs begin for oldest Spanish aqueduct
The nation’s oldest Spanish aqueduct, located in San Antonio, is getting some much-needed improvements by the National Park Service.
The Espada Aqueduct in San Antonio Missions National Park is a stone aqueduct built between 1740 and 1745. It was part of a system of irrigation ditches that carried water from the San Antonio River to the nearby mission communities and their farm fields.
The 275-year-old aqueduct was in need of some repairs because of issues related to leaks and sediment and debris buildup. In all, the improvements are expected to cost $290,000.
The funds for the repairs come from the Great American Outdoors Act signed in 2020 to address the overdue maintenance and repair backlog in national parks.
Workers with the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center and the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and the Texas Conservation Corps youth are working on the repair project.
According to the parks service, the team working on the repairs drained the aqueduct using a diversion gate and an open sluice to clear the heavy sediment, then removed an estimated 30 cubic yards of mud and soil by hand.
The team now will look for small cracks and weak mortar joints in need of repairs. The parks service then will remove the deteriorated plasters and mortars and begin “preservation treatments” inside the channel and on the exterior masonry.
The parks service said water from the San Antonio River will flow through the aqueduct again once the updated plasters and mortars are cured. After that, the team will work on repairing the exterior structure of the aqueduct.
The project is expected to be completed this month.
“Being able to preserve our community’s heritage, charac
ter, and sense of place is invaluable in experiencing and understanding the cultural identity of our past and future,” Christine Jacobs, superintendent of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, said in a statement.
“This project wouldn’t be possible without the team of skilled masons from San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center who are providing the additional expert craftspeople needed to perform the work,” Jacobs said.