Background: This mountain pass in the Italian Alps starts an elevation of 3116 feet and ascends to just under 9050 feet, or 1.7 miles above sea level. The pass was first constructed in 1820.
How It's Unique: The Stelvio Pass has a dizzying 48 hairpin turns and an average grade of 7.4 percent. "To go down that slope, you either basically cut down the mountain to remove that slope, or you have to go back and forth and zigzag a lot," Mahmassani says. The road, which hosts one of the more gruelling stages of the Giro d'Italia bicycle race, has a 7.4 percent grade--"huge" by American standards, Mahmassani says. Six percent grades are about the maximum for U.S. highways, he says, and require escape lanes and safety signage. "You go down or up this road, you're going to get seasick," he says.
Excerpt from http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/architecture/4338387
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