Tuscan road building in the early 19th century

[Roadbuilding in Tuscany]. Nuova strada rotabile dalle saline di Volterra a Capannoli.

€ 6,500.00

A set of two ledgers of construction designs for the building of the new carriageway between Volterra and Capannoli in the Province of Pisa, a project which had been authorized by the government in 1825. The course of the road largely coincides with today's Strada Regionale 439. The first ledger (entitled "4. Disegni della Sezione FG. Comunità di Lajatico") contains a map of the 6th section of the projected road, which reaches from the Foscecchia river to the Sterza river, along the banks of the Era and past Lajatico; two cross-section profiles covering the entire distance of this section (together ca. 280 cm in length, with precise measurements given throughout); a cross-section of the bridge across the Foscia river, and a total of 79 lateral profiles of the road construction throughout the various points of the hilly terrain. The second ledger (entitled "7. Carta del generale andamento, profilo e ponticelli") shows the road design in a lateral section as well as designs for four different types of bridges of various heights.

The construction of the carriageway took place from the late 1820s onwards, and similar technical drawings survive in the Archivio di Stato di Pisa (collected in the "Disegni degli ingegneri della Camera di Sopraintendenza Comunitativa di Pisa").

A fragmentary survival of the original ensemble, which must have encompassed at least ten volumes; but attractively preserved.