Place: Guardialfiera (CB), Viadotto Molise 1, SS647
Author: Filippo Arredi
Chronology: 1966 | 1974
Itinerary: An hard-working country
Use: Motorway viaduct
Road 647 connects the city of Potenza, in Molise, to A14 Highway and flanks the course of the river Biferno, which flows at the bottom of the valley. The most fascinating stretch of this street was designed in 1966 by Eng. Filippo Arredi, distinguished luminary and author of many hydraulic infrastructures of Italy; the street overlooks the lake of Guardialfiera, drawing sinuous curves above the water level.
Unscrolling onto the surface of Lake Guardialfiera, an artificial basin formed from the construction of the Liscione dam, the viaduct passes through a landscape of rare beauty, characterized by a sub-Apennine morphology and extensive biodiversity.
The sequence of reinforced concrete pylons is reflected in the clear waters of the artificial lake.
The succession of the high pylons, with the sinuosity of the plan, make the viaduct an element of the natural landscape. This place, however, is anthropic in nature, derived from human modification of the landscape.
The viaduct’s extended line coincides in perspective with the lake’s edge, separating it from the surrounding hills.
The viaduct and the Liscione dam meet on the east bank of the lake.
The Liscione dam is a barrier almost 500 meters long and consists of an embankment waterproofed with a thick layer of concrete. The main dam is a trapezoidal sectional relief, with a top width of 9 m. The viaduct designed by Arredi crosses it slightly higher than its ridge line.
Past the dam, the viaduct continues on land, but without losing its elegance and its abstraction.