Pre-cast ducts, rather than trenches, speeding up roadworks

Lm2.5 million worth of contracts for roadworks are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks, Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett said yesterday.

He said road rebuilding works financed by the Italian financial protocol were fast approaching the surfacing stage and precast common service ducts were being laid by Italian contractors Ergon Engineering and their Maltese sub-contractors Polidano Brothers.

He said these pre-cast common service ducts had been designed and were being built in Malta and would carry all utility services other than water and sewage mains.

The ducts are 1.8 metres high and a metre wide, allowing a person to work inside them.

Mr Mugliett visited the new ducts on the road linking the Rabat road to Targa Gap.

The ducts are also being used on the road going from Targa Gap to below the Mtarfa cemetery and from Zebbug to Qormi.

Mr Mugliett explained that the building of the pre-cast ducts, rather than trenches, was speeding up roadworks and yielding better quality.

He said the synergy between the local and foreign experts was reaping positive results.

"Local contractors are rising to the challenge. The know-how exists in Malta, and our architects are capable of planning the roads well," he said.

Mr Mugliett said works on the road to Targa Gap were on budget and on schedule, and the road should be reopened in December, although finishing work on boundary walls would continue.

The minister said a decision would be taken as to which roads - among those between Qlejja and Mgarr, Zebbug to Siggiewi and parts of the Rabat Road - would be rebuilt using the Lm2.5 million.