On solid ground

Innovation, creativity, and audacity in architecture and civil engineering continue to push boundaries and eliminate limitations in modern-day property development.

In 2005, three young men recognised there was a business opportunity in providing high-tech quality control of construction materials for an increasingly demanding industry. Paolo Bugeja and Gordon Baldacchino, who were students at St Aloysius' College, Birkirkara, teamed up with architect Joseph Anthony Pace and set up Solidbase Laboratory Ltd in a small warehouse in Safi.

"The opportunity of quality control of building materials was seen as too much of a risk by many, but European Union membership and the adoption of EU legislation convinced us to forge ahead with the idea," said Mr Bugeja, who admits having a long-standing fascination with the construction industry.

Mr Baldacchino, on the other hand, had by then successfully pursued a career in quality management with various contractors. The trio invested heavily in equipment and initially targeted large organisations with extensive infrastructure that would be more inclined to require materials testing.

"The first six months were difficult," Mr Bugeja, 32, recalls. "Few saw the benefits of testing construction materials before putting them to use. But gradually, clients were benefitting from quality control and began to spread the word."

Just a year later, Solidbase opened a state-of-the-art laboratory in Tal-Ħandaq Industrial Estate, Qormi, although Mr Pace left the venture to concentrate on other opportunities.

Mr Bugeja, executive director for finance and administration, says "hundreds of thousands" were invested and ploughed back in technology and equipment which was sourced in Italy to allow the business to diversify and venture into environmental monitoring, geotechnical investigation into sub-base material (a relatively new technology), and quality assurance.

Just three years in the business, Solidbase - one of four laboratories providing testing services to the local construction industry - boasts 400 clients, ranging from Malta International Airport, Smart City and Malta Freeport to real estate companies, foreign investors and authorities, and even individual home owners.

Solidbase has a 16-member team, including experienced geotechnical engineers with backgrounds in industry and testing. The laboratory technicians are undertaking distance learning courses in materials testing to broaden and update their knowledge.

The company, which is ISO 9001:2000-certified, is able to deploy its own enlarged fleet on site if the brief demands it.

The company is now equipped with the technology and the expertise to carry out tests on concrete, soil and rock, aggregate, cement, ceramic and terrazzo tiles, paving blocks and hollow concrete blocks, road kerbs and flags, asphalt and bitumen; environmental monitoring into dust, vibration and noise; and quality assurance in building works, trenching works and underground service laying. It has carried out tests on all of Malta's malls and breakwaters.

Besides being provided with a hard copy of all reports, clients are also given usernames and passwords to access or download their reports in real time at www.solidbasemalta.com.

"But there is more to be done," Mr Bugeja points out. "We want to raise more awareness about the importance of testing materials from the drawing board to the final phases of the project. Quality encompassing safety is of paramount importance.

"The benefits of continuous testing are extensive when compared to remedial works that might become necessary if the construction fails. The investment should justify the expense."

Mr Bugeja says that although it is well-known that Malta's geology presents several strata, and Gozo is even more complex. He explains that the salinity in the air is also a threat to infrastructure, especially to concrete.

"Another threat is sudden rainfall on our densely built island," he explains. "The impact on our roads is much greater than that on foreign roads. We have carried out tests on behalf of Water Services Corporation and local councils on road strata to ensure that the infrastructure can cope with excessive water infiltration and summer heat."

The properties of raw materials are constantly changing, he adds. Not all aggregate (żrar) is currently tested, but the implementation of CE marking by the Malta Standards Authority will change that.

The north of Malta features the unstable clay strata and many architects and civil engineers say structures built on a clay slope are a living phenomenon, unlike those built on rock.

"In most cases, the low permeability of our clay strata and the expected lifetime of most building structures imply that the consolidation process is still ongoing when the building is towards the end of its working life," Mr Bugeja points out. "Expensive piling systems are often used to work round this problem, often because the mechanisms in the ground are poorly understood or have not been fully researched.

"Many people argue that with EU membership such problems should be solved by using the research carried out in other countries. Can we be sure that the materials will be exposed to the same conditions or that the requirements are the same?"

Asked whether testing might be among the casualties in a potentially challenging year ahead, Mr Bugeja is confident Solidbase has earned its good reputation.

"We are in a good position," he says. "We might see less turnover but our clients have seen the benefits of Solidbase's services."