Monumento Rodoviário da Rodovia Presidente Dutra
The Monumento Rodoviário da Rodovia Presidente Dutra is a monument on the Rodovia Presidente Dutra section of the BR-116, at the Serra das Araras in Piraí, Rio de Janeiro (state), Brazil.[1]
Construction
Construction of the monument started on 18 May 1926, and it was inaugurated in 1938. It was created as a highway rest area and tourist observation point, and had a large restaurant and leisure area. It comprises of 54,000 square metres (580,000 sq ft) of construction adjacent to the highway, with a garden area including a pond, and an art deco building[2] with two stories and a lighthouse at the top.[1]
It was conceived by the Touring Club do Brasil, designed by Raphael Galvão, and engineered by Chagas Doria and Christiani Nielsen. Its interior featured panels by Candido Portinari, and the exterior has eight low relief panels by Albert Freyhoffer showing the change in transport over time, from a litter to a carriage and ox cart up to the car in the 1930s.[2]
Closure
The monument was closed in 1978, and has been decaying ever since,[2] with significant vandalism. A public civil action to restore the structure was filed by the Federal Public Ministry of Volta Redonda in 2015. The concessionary that runs the highway past the monument says that the concessionary contract does not cover the maintenance of the monument, although it presented a plan to restore the monument that was approved with reservations before 2016, with no further progress.[2]
References
- ^ a b Verde, Do G1 Sul do Rio e Costa (9 July 2016). "Monumento rodoviário de Piraí, RJ, está com estrutura comprometida". Sul do Rio e Costa Verde (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d "Monumento Rodoviário". São Paulo Antiga (in Brazilian Portuguese). 3 August 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2019.