A call for tenders for project management services on the second phase of the Deep Water Quay upgrading works indicates the long-awaited job could be completed in 16 months.
The management services deal includes a five-year period for contract closure and maintenance and defects liability.
The project was already partially upgraded thanks to a contract awarded in 2013, but the second phase – piling, building, reinforced-concrete structures and marine construction works – were held up by an appeal filed after the tender closed in July 2017.
Read: Deep Water Quay tender evaluation resumes
Six offers were made for the second phase, with the bids varying between €18.5 million and €31.6 million, the financing coming from the government.
Capital Projects Minister Ian Borg said last February that the appeal had been concluded and the adjudication process could resume. The tender is still marked on the Contracts Department site as being under evaluation.
Port infrastructure – except the Freeport –remains substantially as it was 20 years ago
The project management services tender document makes it clear the works are crucial to cope with current and future growth of maritime activities.
Watch: Deep Water Quay works must not disrupt operations - Maritime Forum
“Failure to undertake the proposed investment will lead to the eventual closure of DWQ berths 3/4, which would put pressure on the remaining cargo berths,” it says, adding that the port infrastructure in Malta – with the exception of the Freeport –remained “substantially as it was some 20 years ago”.
The 490-metre-long quay was designed by Coode & Partners and constructed in the early 1960s, primarily for general cargo and bulk grain handling. The quay is now also used for the berthing of cruise liners and ro-ro vessels.
One of the project provisions is that ordinary business at Deep Water Quay must continue during the demolition, construction, completion and maintenance of the works: “The works must be carried out in such a way as to minimise interference with traffic and inconvenience of any kind both by water and land and, in particular, with vessels using the existing channel to the adjacent berths, be they at the Deep Water Quay or other terminals/berths.”
The project management services tender closes on August 28.