RIVALLING OLD ROME

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18459, 28 December 1929, Page 14

RIVALLING OLD ROME

MUSSOLINI’S WAY. ARMY OF ROAD BUILDERS. “For years the terrible state of Italian roads has been a byword to all who have suffered from their shortcomings,” writes Victor Beveridge in “The Motor.” “Indefed, two years ago I warned all motorists who valued their cars to give them a miss. “But out of that chaos of neglect there has arisen a new and rehabilitated highway system—worthy even of the builders who first taught the world the art of roadmaking. “One must not, however, expect to find a complete miracle worked overnight. Mussolini is, after, all not quite a magician—although very near one in some things—who can materialise road plans, stretching over thousands of miles, in a day and a night. Roads take time to construct —if they are to be good and to last. Particularly is this the case when so many miles are over winding mountains where the solid rock has to be blasted out by the thousands of tons. “Wisely the first step has been to put the corners into good shape, and Italy is a country of innumerable blind turnings. These are being widened, the outer curves banked up and the inner sections flattened out so that oncoming traffic may be seen before the actual turn is made. To clear some of these blind spots an almost inconceivable quantity of material has been removed and dumped into the valley or used to build up narrow stretches. “The work in hand, however, has not been confined to the old roads; a number of special motor ways—‘autostrada’ they are called —are in course of construction or are already completed. “Here is a list of those I have been over and there are no finer speedways in the world:— Milan —Bergamo •• •• 54 kiloms. Milan —Varese .. .. 50 kiloms. Milan—Como .. .. 45 kiloms. Milan —Sesto-Calende .. 60 kiloms. Naples—Pompeii .. .. 40 kiloms. Rome—Ostia .. .. 20 kiloms. “I am not quite certain of the distances I have given in the last two but I think they are about right. “If the Rome-Naples main road is finished on the same scale as the stretch to the Neapolitan racecourse, then I can assure you there will be a highway beyond compare with anything existing in the world to-day.

Stupendous Engineering. “At this moment of writing the motorist entering Italy, as most do, from the French Riviera, will find patches of the old rough road still in existence, that penetrating dust, which made some sort of gas mask almost necessary for open car motoring, still to be met—but he will also see some of the most stupendous road engineering in progress. Frankly, the vast scale operations to improve that entrance way are almost unbelievable. At one or two points, where the road is being straightened out, you might think the world’s mightiest cathedral was being built. ' “South of San Remo to Genoa a sum of forty-five million lira has been spent, and much of that old-time nightmare has been converted into a smooth dustless track. Particularly so one is delighted to find most of the mountain roads, over Portoflno and the Braccos, in really excellent shape. “I did have one rather unfortunate experience near Rapallo one night Arriving late at a level crossing, the keeper managed to convey to me the information that I could no no farther. The road tunnelled through the rocks had caved in! That was one for me, to whom Italian is a dead language! “There was no other available road south so I returned to the nearest railway station, got my motor put on a flat car, passed through the railway timnel —a journey of about six miles —got on the road again, and reached my destination not too late.

“For months during the summer this railway journey was the only means of getting down the coast road. Now one can pass without all this trouble Read Gangs and Machinery. “All over the country you pass road gangs equipped with the latest road building machinery—some of the rolers are enormous. I was told that six thousand road men are now at work. “Unfortunately, the macadam type of water-bound road is still being employed in many places, but there appears to be an increasing resort to tar mixtures for top-dressing. This is natural in a country which produces practically no coal and where the price of antracite is something like £7 per ton. “I was shown a new type of oiled road which seems to offer a way out j of the shortage of coal tar. This is a mixture —so I was told —of oil and water, which is sprayed over the finished road surface. For the first week a daily application, then on alternate days for a week, with a final coating after one week’s rest. The liquid soaks down about a foot and is waterproof. “That it is possible to make excellent time over the roads as they now exist may be gauged from the fact that I drove my 16 h.f). car from Rome to Florence, 189 miles, via Siena, in four and a half hours —and it is no level stretch of country, I can assure you. “Owing to the fact that on many roads, particularly in the mountains, there is never a hundred yards of straight running, fast times are not only dangerous but practically impossible. The Italian drivers of bullock and horse carts never keep on their correct side. That is the main impediment to fast driving. “When all the Italian roads are put into first-class order there will be such an invasion of motorists as will speedily recoup the country for its road investment. The Italian himself rarely ventures on extensive touring—so it is primarily for the benfit of the strangers who visit the country that this great highway renaissance has been undertaken. “Now the wandering motorist may, with confidence, cross the Italian frontier; the doors of its hospitality are wide open and the day of its rough, rocky roads has passed into history.