Piero Puricelli | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 8 May 1951 68) Milan, Lombardy Italy | (aged
Occupation(s) | Engineer politician |
Years active | 1905–1945 |
Piero Puricelli (born 4 April 1883 in Milan - died 8 May 1951 in Milan), Count of Lomnago, was an Italian engineer and politician in the first half of the 20th century who was responsible for the construction, in Italy, of the first motorways in the world. He became a senator of Italy in 1929.
Piero Puricelli, Count of Lomnago, [1] was born the son of Angelo and Carlotta Combi. He attended the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, from which he graduated in engineering in 1905. Puricelli married Antonietta Tosi; they had one son, Franco. [2]
In the period following the First World War, after economic development recommenced in Italy, a project to build a motorway was conceived - that is "... a new road reserved exclusively for motor traffic ... ". In 1922 Puricelli designed the project, connecting Milan to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. [3] On 20 September 1923, King Vittorio Emanuele III inaugurated the first section of the motorway, to Gallarate. For its time, this was a futuristic work: the cart and the bicycle were still the dominant means of personal transport in Italy at the time, and there were no more than 85,000 motor vehicles in Italy in 1924, half in Lombardy.
On 21 September 1924, the extension to Varese was inaugurated. The Autostrada dei Laghi ("Lakes Motorway") was the first exclusive-use motorway built in the world reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only [3] [4] because the high-speed AVUS road in Berlin was also used as a race and test track for motor vehicles. [5]
The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza (Monza National Racetrack) project was assigned to Arturo Mercanti, then director of the Automobile Club of Milan, and the engineers Alfredo Rosselli and Piero Puricelli. [1] The overall length was 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), comprising a 4.5 kilometres (2.80 mi) loop track, and a 5.5 kilometres (3.42 mi) road track. [6] [7]
The Automobile Club commissioned the construction of the racetrack in January 1922 to commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary. [7] Work began on 15 May and was completed in just 110 days. Pietro Bordino and Felice Nazzaro completed the first lap of the track on 28 July in a Fiat 570. The national racetrack was the third permanent circuit in the world, preceded only by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the United States and by the English one at Brooklands, no longer in existence today.
The choice of Monza was the result of studies seeking a location near Milan, to limit the "travel" costs for the maintenance of the racetrack. Setting aside alternative sites near Gallarate and Gagnola (a peripheral location in Milan), the directors of the ACI chose the park at the Villa Reale in Monza.
Puricelli was appointed Senator on 26 February 1929, proposed by the Italian National Fascist Party [1] and remained in office until his removal by the Alta Corte di Giustizia per le Sanzioni contro il Fascismo (High Court of Justice for Sanctions against Fascism) in 1945, for having been one of the "senators held responsible for maintaining fascism and making war possible, both by their votes and by their individual actions, including the propaganda exercised outside and inside the Senate". [2] In July 1946 he was acquitted of the charge of collaboration. [1]
Among the appointments Piero Puricelli held are:
Italy has a well developed transport infrastructure. The Italian rail network is extensive, especially in the north, and it includes a high-speed rail network that joins the major cities of Italy from Naples through northern cities such as Milan and Turin. The Florence–Rome high-speed railway was the first high-speed line opened in Europe when more than half of it opened in 1977. Italy has 2,507 people and 12.46 km2 per kilometer of rail track, giving Italy the world's 13th largest rail network. The Italian rail network is operated by state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato, while the rail tracks and infrastructure are managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.
Lombardy is an administrative region of Italy that covers 23,844 km2 (9,206 sq mi); it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is located between the Alps mountain range and tributaries of the river Po, and includes Milan, its capital, the largest metropolitan area in the country, and among the largest in the EU.
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and public tracks. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or a translation for motorway, Autobahn, autostrada, autoroute, etc.
Monza is a city and comune (municipality) on the River Lambro, a tributary of the River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about 15 kilometres north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Monza and Brianza. Monza is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, which hosts the Formula One Italian Grand Prix.
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The Milan Metro is the rapid transit system serving Milan, Italy, operated by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi. The network consists of 5 lines with a total network length of 104.1 kilometres (64.7 mi), and a total of 113 stations, mostly underground. It has a daily ridership of about 1.4 million on weekdays. The Milan Metro is the largest system in Italy for length, number of stations and ridership; and the seventh longest in the European Union.
The autostrade are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about 7,016 kilometres (4,360 mi), as of 30 July 2022. To these data are added 13 motorway spur routes, which extend for 355 kilometres (221 mi).
The Autostrada A9 or Autostrada dei Laghi is an autostrada 31.5 kilometres (19.6 mi) long in northern Italy. It connects to the Autostrada A8 at Lainate, near Milan, and it reaches Como, on the Lake Como, and Chiasso, on the Italy–Switzerland border, where it connects to the Swiss road network.
Biassono is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Milan.
Chiribiri was an aircraft and automobile manufacturer in Turin Italy from 1910-1929. Fabbrica Torinese Velivoli Chiribiri & C.,, was founded by the Venetian Antonio Chiribiri, Maurizio Ramassotto and the engineer Gaudenzio Verga.
The Autostrada A8 or Autostrada dei Laghi is an autostrada 43.6 kilometres (27.1 mi) long in northern Italy connecting Milan to Varese and connecting Milan to Gallarate and Sesto Calende on Lake Maggiore and on Lake Monate.
Monza Park is a large walled park in Monza, Lombardy, northern Italy. Extending over an area of 688 hectares (6.88 km2), it is the largest walled park in Europe, and the fourth largest enclosed one after la Mandria of Venaria Reale (Italy), Richmond Park in London (England) and the Phoenix Park in Dublin (Ireland).
The FIA WTCR Race of Italy is a round of the World Touring Car Championship that has taken place in Italy. It will be held at Vallelunga Circuit in 2022 season. In 2021, it was held at the extended version of Adria International Raceway. Before that, it was mostly held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza near Milan, Lombardy.
Milano Porta Garibaldi is a major railway station in the Italian city of Milan, located just to the north of the neighbourhood known as Porta Garibaldi. Porta Garibaldi is the city's main station for commuter traffic with 25 million passengers annually, although it is second to Centrale station considering total passenger traffic. The station is located on Piazza Sigmund Freud.
The Strade Statali, abbreviated SS, is the Italian national network of state highways. The total length for the network is about 25,000 km (16,000 mi).
Roads in Italy are an important mode of transport in Italy. The classification of the roads of Italy is regulated by the Italian traffic code, both from a technical and administrative point of view. The street nomenclature largely reflects the administrative classification. Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 per 1000 people in 2010.
The evolution of motorways construction in European countries by total number of kilometers existing in that year. This is a list of the total number of Motorways by country in Europe. It includes motorways, classified as such by the Eurostat and includes countries that are not members of the European Union but geographically are situated in Europe.
The evolution of motorways construction in European Union member states by total number of kilometres existing in that year. This is a list of the total number of Motorways by country, member of the European Union. It includes motorways, classified as such by the Eurostat.
Events in the year 1924 in the Kingdom of Italy.
The Autolook Week is an annual motorsport festival held for the first time in Turin from 7 to 11 September 2022.
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