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.
Florence-Rome, Caprenne Viaduct
Ph. Guglielmo Chiolini (1963)