Tracing the Meanders of the Icaraí River: An 1882 Engineering Project for River Mouth Containment and Urban Sanitation

Abstract

This article investigates the drainage and sanitation solutions proposed in the 1880s for the rivers flowing into Icaraí Beach, with particular emphasis on the canalization and breakwater project designed in 1882 by Antônio Paulino Limpo de Abreu Filho, whose plan is currently found decontextualized in the collection of the Brazilian National Library Foundation. Favoring primary textual, cartographic, and iconographic sources, we examine the course and toponymy of the region’s rivers, addressing the overlapping nomenclatures of “Rio Icaraí,” “Rio Cubango,” “Rio Calimbá,” “Rio Santa Rosa,” and “Rio Valados.” Subsequently, we analyze the rinteraction between the area's urbanization process and the emergence of a sanitation demand, as well as the responses provided by public authorities to this issue. Based on this panorama, we interpret Limpo de Abreu’s project, seeking to clarify the circumstances surrounding its conception, implementation, and eventual decline. Finally, we reflect on the disappearance of the rivers from the landscape of Icaraí and the historiographical gaps concerning their progressive anthropization.