Damaged Japanese motorway rebuilt, in six days

F. Psaila

Mar 27th 2011, 00:03

No surprise!!! In Beijing, for the 2009 military parade, they resurfaced (30cm thick, because of military tanks) the whole of ChangAn Avenue (16km) in a single night (11pm - 6am next day).

The problem in Malta is management, not contractors, nor workers neither equipment.

M Zarb

Mar 26th 2011, 16:58

Watch and learn dear MPs, future PMs and PM... Eat your heart out tax payers this is what we will never have !

d cini

Mar 26th 2011, 16:06

jahasra mhux ghax kieku l-mexxejja taghna ma jafux jippuppaw il-glekkijiet u l-ingravajjet ta u jippuzaw ghar-ritratti u l-qtiegh taz-zigarelli! imma s'hemmhekk BISS...u jekk il-poplu jilmenta jfisser li l-poplu mhux qed jifhem jew li mhux qed japprezza bizzejjed (jahsbu huma)

azzopardi joseph

Mar 26th 2011, 15:35

its the same ammount of time we took to complete the regional road bridge is it?

B.Cilia

Mar 26th 2011, 15:03

This only show's how the Government of Malta is a Joke !! A huge one, everybody knows everything !! Japan builds a motorway in 6 days, and Malta fixes a road in 2 years !!! What a Joke !!

Karl Consiglio

Mar 26th 2011, 08:56

The obvious comparisons to Malta, except when the Pope is coming of course.

j grech

Mar 26th 2011, 02:12

us maltese cant even sweep a road clean let alone rebuild one, my road has never been so clean since the african boys took over the street sweeping im ashamed to say,the pot hole fillers are a joke 4/5 of them one man throws a shovel of tarmac down another flattens it with shovel untill its an inch in thickness third man with cigerette dangling from bottom lip pours black liquid around edge, fourth man seems to be bone idle and looks on while driver stays in cab, no quality control inspector comes to inspect quality of work and they all live happily ever after with the payment split between them from our taxes,we may be in the EU but we will never match EU workmanship even certificates from our courses are not eccepted in other EU countrys as i found out when seeking employment abroad, i had to go through the course again and it was a much more in depth and intense course than i did in malta with disipline at the forefront,our roads are as thin as our paper, our workforce dont know what hard work is, and yet we remain arrogant while ignorant

carmel borg

Mar 25th 2011, 22:35

ERROR - It should read Damaged Maltese motorway rebuilt in six days. Ha Ha

Schembri Ray

Mar 25th 2011, 21:22

The road from Zebbug to Siggiewi was suppose to serve 15 years and not less!

J. Borg

Mar 25th 2011, 19:59

doing all that in 6 days is called team work.. mhux wiehed jahdem u xi tminja jfitxu id dell ha jkun jista jihdu is sandwich u xi tazza cafe mit thermos:) well done japan!

S. Gauci

Mar 25th 2011, 16:03

In Malta we ruin it in 6 days; the t'Alla w'Ommu road, a couple of days after it was finished, a truck passed and fill the road with patches of concrete which fell from the overfilled truck.

Brian Camilleri

Mar 25th 2011, 13:53

Not much difference. Japan rebuilts a motorway in 6 days, in Malta we damage a newly built/ resurfaced road....... in 6 days!

G.Sammut

Mar 25th 2011, 12:29

Let's face they only had to rebuild half of it and the fence on the side had to be straightened up. No big deal :)

Cristina Keskitalo

Mar 25th 2011, 11:55

I agree with Attard,Farrugia and Anastasi below. It has all to do with culture, more so than with technology...and it is a shame that other foreigners sometimes think Maltese aer dirty because of the mess they leave outside - and then I have to assure them that a Maltese home is the clean-est of them all. Being a "foreigner" who lived in Malta with a Japanese roommate, I can see all the differences. Both cultures are fantastic in their own way though. For example, I admire the Japanese for obvious reasons. I would love to have more of their discipline. BUT I also admire the Maltese for their sense of humour, expressions, passion and vivre de joi, as can be seen in the comments below :) We all have something to learn from each other. Kind regards from Sweden.

P. S Zammit

Mar 25th 2011, 11:02

Transport Malta and Road Contractors PLEASE TAKE NOTE. This shows that all your work here in Malta just sucks! Professional work can't be done by dummies and this is a clear example.

And one thing - probably their workers do not begin the job at 7:00am and disappear all of a sudden at 8:00am this is why they finished successfully the plan.

S. Degabriele

Mar 25th 2011, 10:55

Here in malta roads are not built in six days but destroyed in six days. After getting a new car and going a little bit around the roads of malta I can already here some noises from the dashboard etc. With all the holes we have it's inevitable. I think that Japan will recover soon from tsunami because it's a serious disciplined country not like Malta unfortunately. If the tsunami happened in Malta it would take a million years to recover.

My insurance and licence keep going up every year but the car performance keeps going down due to the damages occurring from the disastrous roads we have in Malta. In my opinion if at least one quarter of the money collected from licences and insurances was used to arrange our roads, we would be in a better state than today. I just wonder WHERE all the revenue collected from so many vehicles in Malta goes. Probably in some pockets of the Hbieb tal-hbieb people. We have joined the EU, and that's fine but our standards are far from up to EU. EU was joined on paper but the mentality of the maltese people is stuck in the middle ages.

Matthew Grima

Mar 25th 2011, 10:46

Although I agree that this is amazing, you have to consider the urgency of such a project and the possible amount of money/man hours spent to do it. It is also possible they they worked day and night as no one lives around that road unlike every road in Malta. Also not a single car was using that road so they had no problems with traffic deviation.

Still, 4 years to finish the Burmarrad road is an embarrassment.

Malcolm Mifsud

Mar 25th 2011, 10:22

No Maltese personnel involved, for sure.

Brian Camilleri

Mar 25th 2011, 09:07

In Malta it's a little bit different. We damage a new built/ surfaced road in 6 days!!!

George Grech

Mar 25th 2011, 08:28

Ma jirbahilna hadd biex inlabalbu fil-vojt. :->

scerri j

Mar 25th 2011, 08:06

THE 10th COMMANDMENT-(coveting)
Exodus 20:17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's."

L-Ghaxar Kmandament
“La tixtieqx ħwejjeġ ta’ l-oħrajn.”

After having read such news......KIF TISTA MA TIXTIEQX ?????

Yes I am guilty of wishing other peoples ROADS.

Patrick D`Agostino

Mar 25th 2011, 07:59

To be like them {japan workers} is only one thing to send them there to show them and learn them how they work and make work not standing under the trees talking or to see the work done from 12 workers only one work and others waiting the time pass near the trees
well done japanese workers great job

Tony Borg (Melbourne)

Mar 25th 2011, 03:14

@ Norman Tonna
Sorry mate, however God built the whole universe in SIX days. You see on the seventh day He was going to create Malta's roads, He couldn't be bothered and instead He had a rest on the seventh day and we missed out completely. What can one do; tough luck. Probably He knew that we are not capable to look after roads, amongst other things, so why waste the time?

Peter Korsten

Mar 25th 2011, 01:11

Ah, come on, we have a very nice hospital instead. OK, so it's a nightmare to get there because the Birkirkara by-pass twists and turns like a Dan Brown plot, it's far too narrow, getting on and off is challenging at the best of times, and there are disastrous roundabouts/intersections on both ends. Mind, the quality of the tarmac is fine, it's just that the layout of the road itself is, um, sub-optimal, not to put too fine a point on it. And it's true, most of the other roads are best navigated using a moon buggy, but now we're getting a really nice City Gate. And don't forget the tunnel to Gozo, and please don't come and point out that the road infrastructure to get to the ferry and this tunnel is too old, too winding, too narrow and/or too broken. We should be proud of our mega-projects.

john frncis borg

Mar 25th 2011, 00:51

ONLY IN MALTA

David Schiavone

Mar 24th 2011, 23:28

Ghandi Ragun jiena nammira lil Gappunizi u teknologija gappuniza???? Come on bring it on! Yosomito! Toyota! Honda!

Peter Bonnici

Mar 24th 2011, 23:24

Tisma bil-fors u Temmen jekk trid.

James Aquilina

Mar 24th 2011, 21:25

Looks like we need a tsunami,

The top picture looks better than 99.9% of the roads we have here.

Seriously though....
Shows how efeccient the Japs are!!!

Aldo Debono

Mar 24th 2011, 20:23

Did anyone notice how thick the tarmac is? Forget it we build roads in 6 days, but this is how good roads should be built!!! How come after the rains, I always see the rubble coming out??!!!!!!! How many times have I heard of "planned inspections" during road building?

G Psaila

Mar 24th 2011, 20:13

Just a little joke, no offence to the people of Japan intended.

A Japanese tourist was on a visit to New York. When being taken from the airport to his hotel, he pointed out various things to the taxi driver..."our trains are faster....our cars are faster.....our sky scrapers are higher.....our roads are wider....etc etc"
The taxi driver was fuming. He couldn't take any more. At the end of the trip, he asked the tourist for a hefty amount. The tourist was bewildered. "Your taxi meters sure run fast here in America", he argued.
"Sure, they're made in Japan!!!"

R.Lewis

Mar 24th 2011, 19:04

To all bloggers below, don't compare this with Malta because God forbids if we get an earthquake or a Tsunami, our roads cannot be damaged because they are already broken. Most probably in Mosta we got an earthquake.

mario spiteri

Mar 24th 2011, 18:51

St. George's Street, St.Paul`s Bay.... approx 200 meters long...works started 6Jan2011, workmen vanished 13Feb2011 (works unfinished - reason being problem with GO underground cable)
State of street before works started...tal-biki
State of street at present...ta' aktar biki.
Please Times of Malta, don`t publish such news as this "Damaged Japanese motorway rebuilt in six days", as it might make TM / Local Councils blush in disgrace (LOL)

Muscat Pat

Mar 24th 2011, 18:33

After 15 years the Cirkewwa terminal is still not finished; the Transport Minister is still studying the plans.

Adrian Muscat

Mar 24th 2011, 17:57

Maybe the author switched the before and after photos by mistake lol Shame on you for this nasty prank lol

Patrick Sacco

Mar 24th 2011, 17:48

Now you can understand why I have always admired and loved the Japanese!

Ganbare Nihon!

Karl Grech

Mar 24th 2011, 17:43

To all those who wrote below its not fair to criticise the Maltese contractors' efforts, they do try hard and we never praise them for their hard work to beat and hold the Wolrd Record for construction jobs particularly road works.

The Japs take the shortest time.
We take the longest and there is no indication of things moving in the right direction even if given the latest tech.

Philip Caruana

Mar 24th 2011, 17:33

No biggie - our roads are in a far worse state than the one in the top picture!! that's why it takes so long for our contractors to get the job done!

MARIO MIZZI

Mar 24th 2011, 17:32

IN MALTA WE NEED FOR SURE MORE THAN 6 DAYS TO ARRANGE FOR THE COMMISSIONS!!!!!

Godwin Micallef

Mar 24th 2011, 17:12

Hares u tghallem sur Gonzi....... mhux biex taghtu tarmac bicca triq iddum xhur biex ma nghidx snin....

Claire Busuttil

Mar 24th 2011, 17:06

jahasra ghalina haga bhal din hi fantaxjenza!!

Norman Tonna

Mar 24th 2011, 16:55

What's all the fuss about the Japanese Construction Workers - God built the whole universe in 7 Days. Maybe we should ask him to build our roads, in future.
Has anyone got his mobile number?

apgrech

Mar 24th 2011, 16:50

Congratulations to MEPA for issuing the permit so fast.

Joseph Micallef

Mar 24th 2011, 16:49

LoL... Good one Mr. Pace :)

D.Borg

Mar 24th 2011, 16:39

Actually I am more impressed with the first photo

the bedding the previous tarmac was laid on, is something sort of rocket science by local standards (if we have any!)

Alexander Pace Gouder.

Mar 24th 2011, 16:38

(Well done to whoever did this job.) But why such a fuss about this news. Wait & See we will break this record : At the moment it take weeks if not months to repair pot holes in our street. After this news these will start to be repaired in Seconds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a Dream. Ha Ha.

J. Borg

Mar 24th 2011, 16:30

emmm

so who was the Maltese contractor on the job?
or did we send some Road Experts from here?

A. Mifsud

Mar 24th 2011, 16:26

.....as if !!!

I bet that the team who rebuilt the manuel dimech bridge would have done the job in less time!!!

By any chance where there any budget overunns??

G Gatt

Mar 24th 2011, 16:25

It's all about pride, discipline and efficiency.

Another thing that struck me watching the news of this terrible disaster was the composed and dignified manner the Japanese population handled their grief of the loss of their loved ones and their material belongings. Remember, Japanese society was ( and still is) an advanced society. That the majority of people perished as a result of the tsunami and not the strong earthquake is testament to the professional builinding standards they have been using for decades, now. I shudder to think had the same magnitude of earhquake happened in Malta , how we all have coped? I thing the whole island would be obliterated or turned into one big mound of rubble!

Have you noticed panic - buying at the fuel pumps the Japanese way? One orderly line of cars strectching kilometres. No blaring of horns and no filling of jerrycans! Everyone waiting for his turn in silence.

Indeed, the Maltese society has a lot of lessons to learn before we can even dream of proclaiming ourselves as being the centre for excellance!

victor rodenas

Mar 24th 2011, 16:17

When they start doing the Malta-Gozo tunnel it will be named,...~From here to eternity~.

victor caruana

Mar 24th 2011, 16:09

But they cannot beat Bisazza Street, Sliema!!!!!!.

What are they building there?? A nuclear shelter? A maltese pyramid? an Arch de Triomph?
A statue of Liberty? The eiffel tower? the Vatican? I know what they are building:

A monument for maltese ignorance!!!! And it really takes time to encompass it!!!!

Roberto Lauri

Mar 24th 2011, 16:02

I have so much admiration for these Japanese as instead of just standing there and expect some other country to help them build, which am sure at times like these we all do help, they have built a destroyed motorway in 6 days.
In case of Malta that would be more like 6 decades to try and get some road works done, and a further 6 centuries to get the same thing re fixed as it seems that from the little that they have done, it is all coming apart again... Think about it!!!!!

MARIO MIZZI

Mar 24th 2011, 15:59

U L-GHORRIEF TA' TRANSPORT MALTA DAMU 16 IL-XAGHAR BIEX GHAMLU TRIQ TA' 250 METRU!!!! U BYE THE WAY WARA 4 XHUR GEW TAL-WATER SERVICES GHAX SABU LEAK U SISSA GHADNA B'HOFFRA DAQS DINJA GO NOFS DIN IT-TRIQ. MISSKHOM TISTHU JEKK TAFU!

george farrugia

Mar 24th 2011, 15:58

in the end, it only boils down to one thing:
- pride in doing one's job for the good of the country, an issue long lost here in Malta where changing a bulb in a playing field is given prominent exposure on the medias for the sake of political gain...
There are people in Malta with enough merits, credits and willpower to work and improve our country but unfortunately meritocracy seems to be a utopian word nowadays..

Jonathan Brimmer

Mar 24th 2011, 15:56

I'm not impressed. In Malta we take less time to do such works!

James Micallef

Mar 24th 2011, 15:50

WOW!! Well done, that is truly, incredibly impressive. Not just be Maltese standards (in this case I use the word 'standards' in the loosest possible term), but by the benchmark any highly efficient western nation such as Germany or Switzerland. As someone mentioned, not just the fact that they fixed the road, but that almost certainly they did it to a very high standard.

c.camilleri

Mar 24th 2011, 15:47

One thing we know is that the Japanese workers are not spoiled by the unions. They have done away with outdated work practices like those we have in Malta.

Joe Cordina

Mar 24th 2011, 15:43

I heard that Transport malta is looking at breaking this record :)

Ray Muscat

Mar 24th 2011, 15:38

So? Why all this fuss? I have paid my road contribution over twenty years ago and my street is still blooming with potholes. And yet- this pitiful state does not make it to the headlines!

andreana attard

Mar 24th 2011, 15:34

The Japanese are disciplined, ethical and serious so i'm not surprised. I wonder if they have low crime rates, given their enviable social values.

Charles Massa

Mar 24th 2011, 15:31

Il ministru responsabbli ghat toroq ghandu imur sal JAPAN.

A. Schembri

Mar 24th 2011, 15:29

Mela ezatt bhal progett ta Manuel Dimech Bridge. Dawn zkur kienu qed jisindikaw fuqna meta konna qed nibnuh

A. Attard

Mar 24th 2011, 15:28

And here it states they took 4 days......

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=161373

S.Fenech

Mar 24th 2011, 15:28

Tiftakruha l-Bypass ta' San Pawl il-Bahar?

Martin Büttner

Mar 24th 2011, 15:24

The repair of a broken highway is one thing, but what about getting into control of a broken nuclear power plant?

Mario Scicluna

Mar 24th 2011, 15:23

Dik serjeta!! Nahseb li kieku maltin, ghadhom qeghdin jahsbuwha fuq iz zebgha ta' ma l-art jekk hux safra jew bajda, jew fejn jista jistahba il warden ha jfaqqa ic citazzjonijiet! ;)

M.Degiorgio

Mar 24th 2011, 15:22

When there's a will, there's a way................

N. Pace

Mar 24th 2011, 15:17

for sake of repetition

Ezatt bhal - Malta

They bring us to shame if that exists in some people's personalities

A. Grech

Mar 24th 2011, 15:16

You Maltese talk about the slow road building in Malta. Here in Gozo it took 6 years to build a road from Victoria to San Lawrenz, only to stop half way at Gharb.

Ramon Casha

Mar 24th 2011, 15:15

Wow! Takes our government 6 months to fill a pothole.

M. Grech

Mar 24th 2011, 15:12

Clearly no Maltese connection to this repair. Over here it would take six days of sctratching the head before the brain engages!! And a 1 km strech of road takes over six months to complete!

S GATT

Mar 24th 2011, 15:12

Do not beleive it, not before seeing pictures of the minister of transport, usually wearing a yellow safety helmet looking at a map, opening it

r ferriggi

Mar 24th 2011, 15:10

mind boggling.

are these guys from another planet???

they make us and our workmanship look childish.

no offence to anyone,,,,, but this ESPECIALLY to ALL the road works related people.

congratulations to the people of japan. what achievements under the difficulties.

Norman Tonna

Mar 24th 2011, 15:08

It took us 2 years to complete a 50 mtr Bridge in St Julians. Unbelieveable! Vera pajjiz tal Mickey Mouse................

Chris Grech

Mar 24th 2011, 14:54

I'm not surprised at all with the capability of these well educated and highly efficient people. When I was living in Tokyo last year, I saw other streets being completely reconstructed in a matter of days as well, just like this one. And the way traffic was managed....everything was still smooth and no downtime whatsoever.
On the other hand, as far as I can recall, Bisazza street is not ready yet...and this is one of the most important streets in Malta...what are they waiting for...?

Joseph Micallef

Mar 24th 2011, 14:50

Had they been Maltese, they would have taken:

1) 2 years for the environmental impact assessment
2) 2 years for granting the tender
3) 4 years for the appeal board to investigate a complaint
4) 2 years to build it
5) 2 months to remain in good condition

We are light years behind them, what a shame

J. Abela

Mar 24th 2011, 14:49

Qishom ahna dawn!

a.sciberras

Mar 24th 2011, 14:47

DAMAGED MALTESE SUDE STREET REBUILT, IN 60 YEARS

JAFarrugia

Mar 24th 2011, 14:44

Ta'alla u Ommu road 3 years, Zebbug road, over 2 years, St Pauls bay Bypass over 2 years.

The top pic looks a bit like the road from Attard to Mosta at the moment, the road in the bottom pic looks like no road in Malta.

Govt look and hang your head in shame.

Jesmar Cremona

Mar 24th 2011, 14:42

Japanese & Germans are a MASTER RACE

Daniela Klein

Mar 24th 2011, 14:41

Kulhadd igerger..

K Camilleri

Mar 24th 2011, 14:39

What's the fuss all about? In Malta instead of 6 days they would have re built it in 6 years... it's just a matter of swapping some letters behind the number... is this a really big issue? :P

B Borg

Mar 24th 2011, 14:38

The times should also take a look to the pavement works on going at St. Joseph High Street, Hamrun.

E Gatt

Mar 24th 2011, 14:37

Do these amazing Japanese road builders give private lessons?

Anthony Borg

Mar 24th 2011, 14:36

"Darn - they beat us to the world record of road rebuilding by a day or two!"
-
-
P.S. Erratum: I misread "days" for "years" - sorry

-

-

K. Borg

Mar 24th 2011, 14:35

qishom ahna!

Mark Briffa

Mar 24th 2011, 14:34

isom malta e :)

David Micallef

Mar 24th 2011, 14:34

WOW! - u malta biex jaghmlu triq ta xi 100m idumu snin!

G. Grech

Mar 24th 2011, 14:33

...and probably the Japanese built this road with half the cost it takes in Malta...

Tonio Mallia

Mar 24th 2011, 14:32

Just like Malta eh? What a joke ! I bet we'd still be looking for some consultant to draw up a report ( and line his pockets at the same time)

richard micallef

Mar 24th 2011, 14:30

kieku malta ndumu ghaxar snin

H Cassar

Mar 24th 2011, 14:29

Guess they haven't heard about our record-breaking rebuilding of the Manwel Dimech bridge.

Edwin Vella

Mar 24th 2011, 14:28

Transport Malta take note.
The St.Paul's Bay Bypass took more than six years to fix.

R Magri

Mar 24th 2011, 14:27

It took 6 days to rebuild in a country that has been devastated by the earthquake and tsunami........how long would it have taken in Malta under 'normal' circumstances??

K Spiteri

Mar 24th 2011, 14:26

Wowwww!

I think that the government should seriously consider to bring over these Japanese workers to re-built Malta's roads.

Joseph Aquilina

Mar 24th 2011, 14:26

And we take months to fix ours!!!

ray pace

Mar 24th 2011, 14:25

wow what an achievement. Would be a great idea to award the local roads contract to the contractor responsible for the rebuilding of the damaged Japanese motorway - this way we would have our roads done up in record time.

Charles Sammut

Mar 24th 2011, 14:22

And here it takes 6 months to fill a pothole, if youre lucky! If,God forbid, something similarly catastrophic were to happen here, we would either have to do like Haiti, i.e.lump it, or abandon this 'smart' island completely.

C Cassar

Mar 24th 2011, 14:22

Maltese workers take not of this article. The road also looks to be light years ahead in terms of quality - a word missing from the Maltese vocabulary together with the word maintenance.

R.Gauci

Mar 24th 2011, 14:22

I think they used a Maltese contractor to do the Job! :)

Joseph Baldacchino

Mar 24th 2011, 14:20

How about hiring some of these honourable gentlemen to come and have a look at our roads. No, I'm not being sarcastic.

Manuel Cassar

Mar 24th 2011, 14:19

The Japanese are truly an incredible race....however I am sure that we Maltese can learn a lesson or two from them on road builfig

Aldo Busuttil

Mar 24th 2011, 14:19

WOW ezatt bhal Malta LOL.. jdumu s-snin jkarkru fuq ftit kilometri...u dawn f'sitt ijiem lestew motorway... pff hudu ftit ezempju mill-Gappun!!

C Attard

Mar 24th 2011, 14:17

Bħal Malta eżatt mela...

A Chircop

Mar 24th 2011, 14:17

Bhal Malta jahdmu ezatt :)

D Bailey

Mar 24th 2011, 14:15

They should have sent Maltese surveyors and workmen, it would have taken far less.....

Reuben Abela

Mar 24th 2011, 14:14

holy cow

chanel pace

Mar 24th 2011, 14:13

WOW!