The article analyzes the role played by engineers in the construction of road infrastructure in Minas Gerais between the 1840s and 1880s. Building and providing regular maintenance for roads and bridges was a task carried out by the Minas Gerais provincial government, which since the 1830s had a specific agency assigned to designing, building, and maintaining public communication routes. Engineers were part of the agency from its inception, playing a significant role in designing projects and in the actual execution of certain works. The current study is grounded in administrative documentation in which the details of work progress are reported to the provincial government. The gathered records provide technical, administrative, and financial information, along with data on labor power and the agents engaged in construction works.
road and bridge construction; Minas Gerais; nineteenth century; engineers; road infrastructure
