Zany Italian terrain-based road features

[empirestate]

Wacky 360-degree loop combined with curved and sloped tunnel along with weird bi-level corridor: https://goo.gl/maps/lElra

Crazy all-elevated traffic circle in the middle of a valley with double-decked cliffside approach road: https://goo.gl/maps/btw9z

In fact, that whole city (Catanzaro) has a nutso array of viaducts, bridges, tunnels, inclines, etc. amongst its highway system. (Check out the Google Earth view.)

I can't think of anything this inventive with respect to terrain in the U.S. Other examples, whether in Italy or other countries?

[Sykotyk]

The 360 loop with overpass is also in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

[empirestate]

The 360 loop with overpass is also in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yeah, but that's kids' play compared to the Italian example with its tunnel and all.

[Duke87]

I can't think of anything this inventive with respect to terrain in the U.S. Other examples, whether in Italy or other countries?

The thing of it is, Italy has lots of little towns shoved into the sides of hills among rugged terrain, the locations of which were generally chosen for their ease of defense from invaders and their lack of usefulness as farm land. This sort of development pattern doesn't really exist on this side of the Atlantic. There are certainly parts of the US where the terrain is just as rugged, but in these areas the towns tend to be located in the bottoms of valleys rather than on the slopes of hills, and the roads tend to follow valleys rather than twisting through the hills. Compare West Virginia to Italy.

Then there's also simply a question of what sort of functionality is sought. The road through the loop tunnel serves as a bypass of an older road, but then only bypasses half the town and dumps traffic directly into the other half. In the US a road like that would never be built in any type of terrain, either the whole town would be completely bypassed or none of it would. And no one would consider going through such expense to build a bypass road without making it straighter and designed for higher speeds, either.

[NE2]

Chicago's triple decker streets are cooler.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I can't think of anything this inventive with respect to terrain in the U.S. Other examples, whether in Italy or other countries?

There are at least four expressway loops in China: One on the G30 Lianyungang-Faraway (i.e. Khorgas) expressway near the Sayram lake in Xinjiang Uyghur, another one on G85 Chongqing Yinchuan-Kunming expressway in Northeastern Yunnan province, and the remaining two on the G5 Beijing-Kunming expressway South of 'Asbestos' (Shimian) in South central Sichuan province.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I forgot another loop, which I have clinched. It's on NA-137 right at the Spain/France border.

[vtk]

The 360 loop with overpass is also in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yeah, but that's kids' play compared to the Italian example with its tunnel and all.

Actually the helix in the Smokies uses a tunnel to go under itself, though as I recall there's not much of a direction change in the tunnel itself.

[slorydn1]

The 360 loop with overpass is also in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yeah, but that's kids' play compared to the Italian example with its tunnel and all.

Actually the helix in the Smokies uses a tunnel to go under itself, though as I recall there's not much of a direction change in the tunnel itself.

If I can ever figure out how to edit and upload video I will post my last trip through there in May. I seem to remember that there was still some curve left in the road as I went through the tunnel, but obviously no where near as tight as the loop preceding it.

[empirestate]

The 360 loop with overpass is also in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Yeah, but that's kids' play compared to the Italian example with its tunnel and all.

Actually the helix in the Smokies uses a tunnel to go under itself, though as I recall there's not much of a direction change in the tunnel itself.

If I can ever figure out how to edit and upload video I will post my last trip through there in May. I seem to remember that there was still some curve left in the road as I went through the tunnel, but obviously no where near as tight as the loop preceding it.

Exactly; you have to really stretch to describe the U.S. version as even approaching the spiffiness of the Italian one.

That's not a criticism of the U.S. or anything; I'm just looking for things with a bit more of a "wow" factor than the Smokies loop. If such can be found in the U.S., great!


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[Bickendan]

I imagine you'd have to look at railroads to get any US similarities to the Italian roads.

[empirestate]

I imagine you'd have to look at railroads to get any US similarities to the Italian roads.

Right, that's why I suggested looking in Italy and other countries. Haven't had any hits as of yet; surely there's other cool stuff out there?

[Bruce]

Spiral loops are employed by railways around the world to climb hills. There seem to be a few in the U.S., but Italy takes the cake.

The most famous of these might be the Brusio spiral viaduct in Switzerland:

[bzakharin]

The closest I can think of in the US is the helix approach to the Lincoln Tunnel

[empirestate]

The closest I can think of in the US is the helix approach to the Lincoln Tunnel

OK, can you think of anything in another country?


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[NE2]

The NYC side of the George Washington Bridge?

[Bickendan]

Wiki might have a handy list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_bridge

[empirestate]

OK, perhaps I wasn't clear...

I gave a couple of examples from Italy, and I'm interested in seeing examples of other similarly outrageous designs from around that country. And if you know of examples from another country that are comparable feats of engineering, I'd be interested in those too. Perhaps elsewhere in Europe, such as the Alpine countries, or there must be something pretty wild in China or Japan, maybe?

Now as I said, there's not a whole lot in the U.S. that's this elaborate in how it deals with terrain–so I'm not looking for examples from the U.S. If there is one that's not occurring to me, great, let's see it, but otherwise you don't need to go looking for whatever comes the closest in the U.S. Just skip the whole country and try another.

Also, while one of the examples I gave was a spiral, the other was not–so I'm not looking for a collection of spirals. Again, if there is one that has the added multi-plane tunnel feature or is similarly intricate in another way, that's cool, but a plain old unadorned 360-degree loop is just too vanilla to compete here. How about another example of an entire interchange elevated above a valley, or in tunnels beneath a mountaintop city? Or best yet–half-and-half?

So for another example, here we have an interchange with roundabout inside a tunnel in Monaco (with some apparently unrelated tunnels intermingled): https://goo.gl/maps/OFx5X

[NE2]

Now as I said, there's not a whole lot in the U.S. that's this elaborate in how it deals with terrain–so I'm not looking for examples from the U.S. If there is one that's not occurring to me, great, let's see it, but otherwise you don't need to go looking for whatever comes the closest in the U.S.

I think the Trans-Manhattan Expressway comes pretty close, if it's not actually more complicated roadwise (but simpler terrainwise).

[empirestate]

Now as I said, there's not a whole lot in the U.S. that's this elaborate in how it deals with terrain–so I'm not looking for examples from the U.S. If there is one that's not occurring to me, great, let's see it, but otherwise you don't need to go looking for whatever comes the closest in the U.S.

I think the Trans-Manhattan Expressway comes pretty close, if it's not actually more complicated roadwise (but simpler terrainwise).

Yeah, I think that's more in the neighborhood, including the whole stretch from the GWB to the Highbridge Interchange.

Also, the Big Dig in terms of underground complexity. I believe Australia has some stuff along these lines, too?


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[jakeroot]

Also, the Big Dig in terms of underground complexity. I believe Australia has some stuff along these lines, too?

- Sydney has a system of tunnels beneath the CBD.
- Brisbane also has quite an extensive system of tunnels between the CBD and the airport. Near Herston, three tunnels rise from the underground to meet an overground motorway.

Perth and Melbourne also have tunnels, but they aren't as complex.

[Duke87]

Also, the Big Dig in terms of underground complexity. I believe Australia has some stuff along these lines, too?

As does Montreal. Check out A-720. It's a lot like the Big Dig except a few decades older.

Also in Montreal, you have Pont Victoria... which at its eastern end has two alternate routes both for trains and for cars. The bridge passes over a lock in the Saint Lawrence seaway. The gate to the lock that is open is accompanied by a lift bridge in the raised position. When a ship passes through the lock, one bridge raises and the other lowers, and traffic is rerouted.

[JKRhodes]

Old thread I know, but California has some pretty wild engineering along Route 18.

Here's a diamond interchange in the middle of a switchback curve in a side canyon:

https://goo.gl/maps/dtZn8xvs5sfD2Vn88

At the intersection of CA 18 and CA 138. the terrain is too steep to make a right turn directly from 18 to 138, so this movement is accommodated with a spiral of sorts:

https://goo.gl/maps/3tK1SUEMVbcTXRRr7

[jakeroot]

At the intersection of CA 18 and CA 138. the terrain is too steep to make a right turn directly from 18 to 138, so this movement is accommodated with a spiral of sorts:

https://goo.gl/maps/3tK1SUEMVbcTXRRr7

This interchange reminds me of some interchanges in/on Madeira.

Or, in the case of the OP, it looks particularly Italian!

[Ga293]

US 16A south of Mt. Rushmore has some pretty zany features. 3 helices, including one where a bridge leads directly into a tunnel, plus two bifurcations.