Congratulations to the organisers and especially the speakers at the conference held on May 18 at the Phoenicia Hotel ballroom. A convincing case was made for the current campaign to spruce up and repair various bastions and walls.
On reflection, questions arise: Once this one-off, expensive programme is completed, will it be followed up by regular maintenance? Does the expertise, organisation, funds and the political will exist?
Some individual stones have started to crumble and need much work and therefore expense to restore. Salt crystals form under the surface of the stone, disrupting its structure, the salt being drawn in with groundwater, which evaporates at the surface. The problem is, once the salt is so laboriously removed, the process can be confidently expected to continue unabated.
Why indulge in all this work and expense when the stones are backed by water-soaked soil and rubble? Techniques appropriate for a free-standing building or a statue might not work as well here. Would treating the problem at source not make more sense?
First of all, water ingress from above is to be prevented and surface drains installed . All vegetation must be ruthlessly removed, including all trees and shrubs. All surfaces will need be sealed, even if not so originally, and slabbed for preference.
There is no sense in returning the tops of the walls to their original state if this threatens their survival. The defences were not designed to survive the centuries as national monuments, but only to fulfil an immediate practical need. Repairs, alterations and rebuilds were needed early in their history.
Water seems to enter from below the surface as well. A visit to Ġnien is-Sultan Street shows this most clearly: large areas of the face are damp, with water seeping out and dripping down over the rock in a couple of places.
The counterscarp of the main ditch is liberally festooned with drainpipes of dubious quality, some leaking. The majority originate from the bus terminus and from St James Counterguard. One, just under the main bridge, appears to have leaked for a long time. Are there similar leaks underground, out of sight?
The sources should be traced and dealt with: broken water pipes, damaged sewers, or natural groundwater. Having sealed off water ingress from the top and below the surface, ground-drains judiciously placed might further reduce the problem.
It seems likely some form of underground drainage would have been included in the original build, and become blocked over time. However, even if not originally there, they should be installed if they will help to preserve the walls.
These proposals are likely to be strongly disliked by some; also they probably cannot be shoehorned into the available time before 2012. One hopes they will be considered. Should my pessimistic assessment be shown to be wrong, then no one would be more pleased than me.