Newly laid avenue to be resurfaced

The main road leading into Valletta, Glormu Cassar Avenue, is to be resurfaced again after the authorities and the road contractor agreed that previous works carried out on the road were not up to standard.

The director of the Transport Authority's Network Infrastructure Directorate (NID), Heinrich Semar, explained: "At NID we are insisting on the implementation of standards. That is what the road user and taxpayer has a right to."

The resurfacing of the road - between the Prime Minister's office and the Floriana war memorial - was completed a few days before Queen Elizabeth II arrived to preside over the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last November.

A few weeks after the works were completed, sections of the road were dug up again because of defects in the tarmac. But as rainfall persisted, defects in the road's surface emerged and the authority and the contractor responsible immediately agreed that the road had to be resurfaced all over again to bring it up to standard.

Works, which will involve resurfacing with the upper layer of tarmac known as the wearing course, will be carried out by the same contractor and at his expense once the weather and work conditions allow it.

Meanwhile, moving west from Valletta, NID was busy trying to solve another problem that emerged two weeks ago when a crack, now 10 metres long, appeared on the road between the roundabout known as Ta' Srina (at the bottom of Saqqajja Hill) and the Mtarfa cemetery roundabout. There is a disparity in the road levels which has to be rectified.

Works on the road were funded by the Fifth Italian Protocol and were completed last September. The roads built under this protocol have a projected lifespan of 25 years. So what went wrong?

Speaking to The Times, Prof. Semar explained that the crack was being investigated and a trench was dug along the side of the road for inspection purposes.

Prof. Semar said investigations so far excluded the possibility of a fault in the construction of the road. It was therefore likely that the fault was caused by water. Investigations ruled out a fault in the storm water pipes but tests were still to be carried out to establish whether the fault was caused by leakages in the water services pipes or drainage pipes or by the seeping of water from nearby fields underneath the road.

Prof. Semar explained that investigations revealed the presence of water almost three metres below the road's surface. When the road was constructed, a maximum of 65 centimetres were excavated, according to standards.

A spokesman for the Ministry for Urban Development and Roads, Darrell Pace, said the damage was noted on 10 metres out of a 17-kilometre project.

He explained that the project was still in its "snagging" phase, during which flaws were listed for the contractor to fix.

The snagging period would be over once the authority issued a certificate of acceptance, which has not yet been issued.