The new military road over the Stelvio Pass to Tyrol

Appendix.

On the new military road through the Valtellina over the Stelvio Pass to Tyrol.

(From the Mailänder Echo.)

In the year 1818, His Majesty the late Emperor Franz I deigned to approve the project submitted to him for the construction of a carriage road through the Valtellina and to Tyrol over the Stelvio Pass, after previously only an extremely arduous footpath along one of the slopes of the Valsassina had formed the connection for a short stretch. — Upon receiving this gracious permission, a political-military commission was immediately assembled, which examined the feasibility of carriage travel across the terrain designated for this road and determined its directional points everywhere. Work began as early as the month of June 1820, and by 1823 almost the entire section in Lombardy was completed; a circumstance that arouses the greatest attention and admiration when one considers that the mountain climate in this northern part and the heavy snow that fell everywhere and had to be cleared with the greatest exertion permitted work for only a third of the year, quite apart from the many significant obstacles presented by the ruggedness of the terrain. In that same year, construction began within the territory of Tyrol, which was completed in 1825. Since then, the projected works have partly been carried out throughout and partly, wherever deemed necessary, suitable improvements have been made. The entire road, wherever it runs along the lake and the nature of the terrain required it, rests upon a foundation of mortared brick and masonry over arched vaults, fitted with drainage openings and, in places, graceful flights of steps leading down to the lake. Furthermore, for the thirsty traveler, fountains have occasionally been built into the roadside walls, drawing their clear, wholesome water from the neighboring mountains. Since the protruding corners of the mountain slopes were not leveled at several points, but rather the road was driven through galleries blasted into the rock, it resembles a continuous fortified line that yields to few in strength and durability. The length of these galleries, which in several places are also constructed of timber, amounts in total to approximately 3,600 meters. For the clearing of snow and ice, as well as for the removal of rubble and rocks rolling down from the mountains onto the road, dedicated personnel are tasked, whose number currently stands at 48. These men, called rotteri or rompitori (breakers), are out on the road almost the entire day and even at night to faithfully fulfill their duties, so that communication is very rarely interrupted. They reside in 11 houses, which also serve to accommodate travelers, and have their own parish, as from Bormio to the first village in Tyrol not a single settlement existed. Twelve of these men are also equipped with horses and sledges. The maximum elevation of the road on the Stelvio Pass above Bormio is 1,554 meters, and 2,814 meters above sea level.

The expenditure for the entire road amounts to *): 1. for the section from Lecco to Colico 3,460,000 Zwanziger; 2. for the section from Colico to Riva 650,000 Zw.; 3. the stretch of road in Lombardy up to the Splügen 1,260,000 Zw.; 4. that part of the new road which leads through Grisons from the Stelvio Pass to the Rhine and was built directly at the expense of the Lombard Gubernium, 273,000 Zw., and 5. the section from Bormio to the Adige, over a length of 48,111 meters, 3,060,000 Zw. In total 8,703,000 Zwanziger, or 2,901,000 guilders.

A detailed description of this road, as well as of the landscapes and significant localities through which it passes, would fill a volume, and would not accord with the intended purpose, namely merely to give the kind reader an idea of this infinitely magnificent work of engineering. Although some have come forward who dispute the road's long-term durability — a judgment for which, in my view, the overly weak foundation in certain places may give cause —, for centuries probably no road so splendid and at the same time convenient, the construction of which had to contend with so many difficulties, has been built. Powerfully is the traveler, charmed on his journey by the torrent-filled reaches of surrounding nature alongside the works of artifice, reminded of that age, of the days when Lombardy too was traversed by the most magnificent roads by that art-loving people, the celebrated Romans. — Whoever compares past and present must recognize that this latest work honorably aligns itself with the proud giant structures of the ancients ). Phil. v. Körber**.

*) These data are partly drawn from official sources, and partly owed to information from Mr. von Donegani, Chief Engineer (Ingegnere in Capo) in Sondrio, to whom the management of the road affairs is entrusted.

**) I cannot refrain from drawing attention to the valuable work: Voyage pittoresque sur la nouvelle route depuis Glurns en Tirol par le col de Stilfs (passo di Stelvio) par la Valtelline, le long du lac de Come, jusqu´à Milan. - 36 vues en 6 Livraisons, dessinées d´après nature et publiées par I. I. Meyer. - Zürich 1831.