After more than 18 months of work and several delays, the reconstructed Manwel Dimech Bridge was fully opened yesterday.

But even its opening day was marred by a delay. Although a press release issued by the Malta Transport Authority on Friday said the bridge would be open at 3 p.m., it was more than two hours later that this finally happened.

The north-bound carriageway was opened to traffic soon after the official opening time, at around 3.20 p.m., but it was only at 5.40 p.m. that the south-bound carriageway was clear for traffic to go through, making the bridge fully operational.

Work to reconstruct the two carriageways started in September 2006 and was meant to be completed within a year but was delayed a number of times.

Even on the last day of its closure the bridge was in the line of fire, with many motorists complaining of traffic jams as they tried to negotiate their way to the office in the morning. The bridge had been closed from 3 a.m. on Sunday until yesterday afternoon as the finishing touches were applied.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Ministry said a minimum of 36 hours of complete closure was needed to make the road safe for traffic. "No doubt that this was going to cause an inconvenience and this had to be reduced to the barest minimum."

He said the works that needed to be carried out - including completing the surface and adding road markings - could not be safely carried out while traffic drove by.

"Safety is a consideration that is primary to us and to the Malta Transport Authority and had to override the undoubted discomfort created by the temporary diversions of the last 36 hours."

He said the fact that the bridge was closed early on Sunday morning allowed the Saturday night traffic from Paceville to pass through the tunnels before works started.

The spokesman added it was not possible to split up the works into two night sessions as the safety of motorists and passengers could have been put in jeopardy.

"Of course, today's inconvenience was both predictable and regrettable. The reopening of the bridge will no doubt be welcome news to all motorists," he said.

The authority yesterday said that the speed limit on the bridge is 60 kilometres per hour, up from the previous limit of 45 that had been imposed for reasons of bridge stability.