Autostrada del Sole, the Public Work that United Italy

In June 1964, hundreds of people gathered at MoMA in New York to admire the best of Italian engineering and construction techniques. At the world’s most important modern and contemporary art museum, the exhibition Twentieth Century Engineering featured many viaducts from the Autostrada del Sole (A1), whose construction was still ongoing.

One of the most significant projects in Italian history, this massive infrastructure was completed a few months later. In fact, the full 764 kilometers, stretching from Milan to Naples, officially opened on October 4, 1964. Attending the event were the President of the Republic, Antonio Segni, and the Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, who described the highway as: “A bold and ingenious undertaking, whose success was achieved through the extraordinary application of Italy’s great resources in science, technology, labor, and creative genius”.

The Autostrada del Sole, which began construction in 1956, quickly became known worldwide, not only because of the magnitude of the project but also for the ability of the involved companies to complete such a complex and extensive project in just eight years. Even today, 60 years after its inauguration, it remains a highly strategic highway for Italy. Consider that before its existence, a commercial vehicle would take about two days to travel from Milan to Naples, crossing more than 100 towns; after its opening, the journey was reduced to about 8 hours.

The Autostrada del Sole was also a striking symbol of the country’s motorization: in 1956, there were just 4.6 million vehicles circulating annually from the Alps to the islands, while in 2023, that number exceeded 45 million.

With the Autostrada del Sole, Italy became a different, more modern, interconnected, and “smaller” country. This “vertebral channel”, as described by Francesco Aimone Jelmoni, the project’s first designer, united the nation by linking the north with the south along one grand roadway.

Today, Italian highways handle around 90% of passenger traffic and 85% of freight traffic, with the Autostrada del Sole continuing to play a key role. Its statistics speak volumes about its critical importance to the Italian road system: 113 bridges and viaducts, 672 overpasses, 38 tunnels, and 57 interchanges – a true giant that keeps an entire country moving.

The Autostrada del Sole, with its excellence and unique characteristics, is much more than just a highway. For example, part of its history includes the Church of San Giovanni Battista in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence, built in memory of those who died on the A1’s construction sites. The religious building, constructed between 1960 and 1964, is known as the Church of the Highway because it is located at the intersection of the A1 and the A11 (Florence-Mare). The sanctuary is thus integrated with the infrastructure. Likewise, the Fiorenzuola d’Arda Autogrill in the province of Piacenza, inaugurated in 1959, was the first “bridge” rest stop in Europe, accessible from both sides of the road without crossing it.

The architectural innovation was designed by architect Angelo Bianchetti, who developed the idea during a trip to the United States, where such structures had already existed for several years. It’s no surprise that Bianchetti himself would later call this autogrill the “ocean liner.” In this case, however, the structure was designed to unite not only travelers moving on opposite sides of the road but also two major gastronomic traditions: the “Piacenza” and the “Parma” cuisines. For the Fiorenzuola d’Arda Autogrill, the Pavesi food company even collaborated with the Physiology Institute of the University of Milan to create the “driver’s menu”, a balanced mix of carbohydrates and proteins perfect for long trips.

In 1950, outside of cities, Italy had 175,000 kilometers of roads, 150,000 of which were still unpaved. It became clear to many, including the Italian government, that investing in the construction of a major highway would mean modernizing the entire country. Then came 1957, with the Carosello show and the new Fiat 500, and nothing was the same again. It marked the start of one of the most vital periods of economic growth after World War II, the years of the Dolce Vita, with many Italians buying cars while the country rapidly transformed into an industrial powerhouse. This transformation was also felt in infrastructure, leading to the birth of the Autostrada del Sole.

With a total investment of 272 billion lire, the project was completed in eight years despite its complexity, thanks largely to the decision of engineer Fedele Cova, Ceo of Concessioni e Costruzioni Autostrade Spa (today Autostrade per l’Italia) and project coordinator, to divide the work into over 100 sections, each awarded to the best Italian companies in the field.

Among the contractors were Girola, Lodigiani, and Impresit, three excellent companies that later merged into the group now known as Webuild. Lodigiani was responsible for four sections, including section 7b in Florence, which involved constructing a 930-meter tunnel, the longest on the entire Autostrada del Sole.

Alongside Lodigiani, Girola, and Impresit, dozens of other companies participated in the construction, leading to an extraordinary result – a masterpiece of civil engineering, with 15 million workdays in total, for a route along the Apennine backbone connecting Milan, Naples, Bologna, Florence, and Rome. The first person to drive on the Autostrada del Sole was the President of the Italian Republic, Antonio Segni, on the same day it was inaugurated.