The core of the new Barrakka lift has risen more than half way up from Lascaris Ditch to the Upper Barrakka, and a spokesman for the Infrastructure Ministry said the project is on time and on budget.

The work started in the second half of last year and the structure has now risen to 38 metres with 20 metres to go.

The two cabins, equipment and screen panels are also being manufactured.

The €2.5 million project, mostly funded by the EU, will be completed in the last quarter of this year.

The lift will be able to carry up to 800 people per hour, each of its two cabins taking up to 21 passengers.

Its concrete structure will be covered with a honey-coloured aluminium mesh to blend in with the limestone of the bastions.

The bastions themselves are currently covered in scaffolding as they undergo extensive restoration. 

The lift will be freestanding so as not to damage the fortifications.

The lift is being built on the same site as the lift which started operating in 1905 – carrying 12 passengers in each of two cabins – and which was decommissioned in 1973. It was dismantled in 1983.