The view from the flood works bridge. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

The Qormi-Marsa section of the national flood relief project, consisting of storm water canals and bridges, has been completed.

It will finally relieve residents of Triq il-Wied, Qormi, from the annual damage and dangers caused by flooding.

The whole project should be completed by mid-2015, with works on areas such as Żabbar yet to be carried out, Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi said yesterday.

The National Flood Relief Project consists of five main components, tackling the problem of flooding in three of Malta’s rain water catchment areas.

It spans a total of 10 localities: Lija, Balzan, Birkirkara, Msida, Marsa, Qormi, Żebbuġ, Gżira, Żabbar and Marsascala.

The section just completed cost €4.7 million. Qormi is notorious for flooding, with one famous incident involving a number of empty coffins from an undertaker’s workshop floating down the flooded streets after a particularly heavy downpour in 2010.

The whole project should be complete by mid-2015

The Qormi component consists of an underground water channel around 550 metres long, nine metres wide and 1.2 metres high between the end of Wied is-Sewda and the start of urban development in Triq il-Wied.

In order to remove obstructions and improve water flow, three multi-support bridges were reconstructed as single span bridges while a new opening was created near the skew arch bridge close to the Lowenbrau factory.

A small, underground precast culvert system was constructed in the area where Wied il-Kbir meets Wied is-Sewda in the location of the Marsa Golf Course.

A pre-cast underground culvert system made up of four openings of 3.5-metre-wide by 1.75 metres high was built under Aldo Moro Road, Marsa to eliminate the existing two bridges that block the flow of water.

The completed project will see some 16 kilometres of tunnels, 1,200m of road culverts and 92 silt and oil separators,  two pumping stations in outlet structures at Ta’ Xbiex and close to Għar id-Duħħan, Marsascala, and a soak-away reservoir holding 10,000 cubic metres.