The sandy beach replenishment at Balluta Bay was bound to fail as not enough studies were carried out to establish whether material dredged from the seabed would serve such purpose, an expert has concluded.

Moreover, he also urged the authorities not to commit the same mistake at Għadira Bay, which has been earmarked for a much larger sand nourishment project.

Geologist Peter Gatt sounded these warnings when asked by the Times of Malta whether he subscribed to criticism that the “experimental” project in Balluta had been money down the drain.

Costing taxpayers €110,000, the sand nourishment project did not even last two months, as most of it was washed away with the first end-of-summer storm.

The project involved pumping 4,200 cubic metres of sand from the seabed to create a 20-metre beach with a footprint of 9,000 square metres.

Despite the beach having shrunk to a small fraction of what it was supposed to be, the government is insisting it is still too early to conclude that the project had failed. Moreover, it is not ruling out having another go next year.

Asked for his views on this, Dr Gatt who is also a qualified sedimentologist, said that decisions on the Balluta Bay sand nourishment project were not based on comprehensive scientific considerations.

It seems that there was not much scientific thought

Though a certain level of erosion was to be expected, the amount of sand washed away was much higher, he pointed out.

“The material dredged from the same bay was unsuitable for such purpose as it was too cohesive, meaning that it tends to stick together,” Dr Gatt remarked.

“Its greyish colour was also indicative of the presence of clay and silt, which have cohesive characteristics,” he added.

In view of this, the recent storm resulted in abnormal deep crevasses on the beach as large quantities of material were swept away by the gushing rainwater, the expert said.

Another worrying sign flagged by Dr Gatt was that the project did not even reach what he described as its recreational objectives.

READ - €110,000 Balluta beach project might not survive the winter

“From the very beginning the beach became too compacted, as if it was made of rock. Even before the first rains, the sand was very hard, contrary to the characteristics of a natural beach,” he noted.

Dr Gatt said that the type of offshore sand used to extend the beach differed from that found on natural sandy beaches. Beach nourishment projects could only be successful as long as the right type of sand was used, he said.

“In this case it seems that there was not much scientific thought and decisions were taken without sedimentological analysis on the consequences of the spots chosen to pump the sand ashore,” the expert told this newspaper.  

Though a project description statement was carried out as part of the planning application, Dr Gatt said that evidence so far suggested the project’s performance was poor. 

He contends that further erosion would take place in winter. 

“There is nothing wrong with such projects, especially in the wake of the increase in sea level due to global warming, but there needs to be more studies before, to have higher chances of success,” he said. 

Dr Gatt also sounded a warning on the government’s plan to carry out a beach nourishment project at Għadira Bay.

While commending efforts being taken to study wave action, he said that it was crucial to have sedimentological studies to determine if the sand would be suitable.

“So far it does not seem that this aspect is being considered in studies,” he said.