A study by a UK consulting company six years ago had confirmed the collapse of Dwejra’s Azure Window was “inevitable”, prompting the Gozo Ministry to accept it was doomed.
The study was conducted after photographic evidence showed the dramatic changes the experienced over the years due to sea erosion.
This week, another large chunk of the rock formation disappeared into the sea, widening the window, a main tourist attraction.
In 2006, the ministry had enrolled the services of UK company Bureau Veritas Consulting to see how the sea and wave erosion could be limited to preserve the structure.
The findings were never published but, when asked for details of the proposals and whether any action was taken, a ministry spokesman said this week the “visual inspection” showed the eventual collapse of the structure was inevitable due to wave erosion.
“Any works carried out by accessing the soffit of the arch are considered to be too dangerous and working beneath a potentially unsupported slab is considered to be hazardous,” the spokesman said, quoting from the report.
“The process of the formation, erosion and collapse of such natural arches is a natural process that has been seen repeated in many similar natural features and attractions all over the world,” the spokesman added.
Geology expert George Zammit Maempel said recently that the structure – like all sea caves that develop into windows – was “doomed to collapse in time”, though no one knows how long it will survive in its present shape.
As waves ate away at the sides, the hard rock at the top of the window developed more and more cracks due to increased pressure at the centre, he explained.
This would leave the outer part of the window as a stack, a solitary rock column away from the mainland, which would continue to be eroded until it finally became a stump of rock.
Asked whether anything could be done to stop the erosion, Dr Zammit Maempel said the biggest damage was caused by events that used to take place on the top, the most fragile part of the window.
“You can’t stop nature. Just don’t put any more weight on the areas where it is cracking. Otherwise, there’s no solution. You can’t put cement or prop it up,” he said, adding that such things would change the natural state of the formation.