The building of the road Within just five years the Lombardian road construction firms of Pietro Pali and Antonio Talacchini solidly executed their building plans tor the three building plots of the high Alpine road.

In October 1825, after just over five years of construction work, the whole stretch of road between Bormio and Spondinig was opened tor public traffic.The totallength of the Stilfser Joch road is 49,24 km; from Spondinig to the top of the pass it is 27.45 km, and tram there to Bormio 21,79 km. The firstsection has 48 bends, the other 34 and a minimum width of five metres. The largest incline iseleven per cent and between Spondinig and the top of the pass (2758 m) the increase in altitude is 1900 metres; tramBormio (1223 m) the increase is 1,500 metres.

When we consider the extremely difficult, precipitaus and sheer moraine terrains on the South Tyrolean side and the narrow ravines in the rock massifs of the Braulio Valley, Donegani succeeded with nearperfeet calculations in carryingout his plans für the road with a maximum incline of only 11,3 on the northern slope and of nine per cent on the southern slope, through double bends with a radius of 180 degrees.

It had only recently become possible with empirical roadbuilding methods to draw upscientific calculations and base projects on them. Dry wall and limestone wa 11 constructions für kilometers on both mountain and valley sides, mighty supporting columns on the 82 bends, medium-span bridges, galleries, railings and boundarystones were built irt masterly fashion. Concrete and stone ducts to carry away the melting snow water both alongside the road itself and along the embankment had to be added. Numerous streams had to be underpassed and, finally, wooden galleries were erected to ensure the road could be used in winter.All the time there were 1,000 workers and sometimes 2,000involved.

They had hardly any technical assistance available and they completed about 10 km. of road between June and November. Local carters, innkeepers, smiths, builders and labourers were able to earn a considerable extra wage. The overall building rosts came to about 850,000 gilders while the maintenance rosts in the years that followed were about 250 gilders per kilometer. Sections of the road were constantly damaged by avalanches, falling rocks, landslides and eroding material and the road surface was broken up by smaller rivulets, ground frost, wind and weather.

Nevertheless, the overall state of the road and the stability of the route itfollows are even today very respectable indeed.On the Lombardy side, between Bagni Vecchi and the second cantoniera, six galleries werebuilt, partly cut out of the rocks and partly built with walls. The Iongest gallery measured 450 meters. In the top part, about tour kilometers below the col, the road had two branches: one on the mountain side with a roof of thick larch planks tor winter and the other on the valley-side tor the snow-freemonths. Through serpentine-shaped 180-degree bends, the so-ca lied "reeds", a slight increase in height to overcome the incline was achieved. Horse-drawn traffic managed to get by with a radius of ten meters and through extension work in the 20th century it was also possible for smaller scheduled buses to use the road.

Over time each of the 48 bends on the South Tyrolean side was given a particular name like Edelweißried, Flöckenried, Wassertalried, Lahner, Schlagried, Tartscher Ried, Kanzlried, Kreßried, Almried, Kalkofenried, Plaisried, Kapselried, Knottried, Schaftalried, Valaina-Ried, the sweet eyelet, the Last Judgement and so on.RoadhousesThe Stilfser Joch road enjoyed the benefits of good logistics; along its entire length from Bormio to Prad there were road attendant hauses, the "case cantoniere", five on the Italian side and one on the Tyrolean side.

They exchanged horses, provided accommodation and catering services and put up the road-workers, the "cantonieri". These "rest hauses" are all built in the same way; the biggestwas on the Umbrail Pass, where the Swiss border post is also 10cated. They were built at rightangles, had two "hosteis", twostoreys each with a kitchen, a storeroom for the road-workers' machinery, astall for the horses, a cellar and a barn. On the. ground floor stood an arched path which ran the whole length of the building.