Rockfall shuts Għajn Dwieli tunnel for over 24 hours despite €2.2m upgrade
Emergency works to start Friday morning as drivers are urged to avoid the tunnel
Updated 8.46pm
The Għajn Dwieli tunnel leading into Cospicua will remain closed throughout Friday for emergency works after some rocks fell beneath the underpass "due to bad weather" on Thursday afternoon.
In a Facebook post, Transport Malta warned drivers to “avoid driving through the area and seek alternative routes” after the road was closed from around 1.30pm on Thursday.
A police spokesperson confirmed that the rocks did not hit any cars and no injuries were reported.
The road is a major access route into Cottonera’s walled cities of Cospicua, Senglea and Vittoriosa.
Cospicua local council said the area has been “temporarily closed for safety reasons”, reiterating Transport Malta’s call for “everyone's cooperation to avoid the area until the necessary works are completed and the site is safely reopened”.
In an update on Thursday evening, Transport Malta said the tunnel will remain closed throughout the night and all day on Friday "until protective structural measures are implemented to remove the danger caused by rockfall due to inclement weather".
Transport Malta added that emergency works will begin on Friday morning and are "expected to be completed by evening".
In 2021, Infrastructure Malta began a €2.2 million restoration project on the tunnel, reinforcing its structural integrity and upgrading amenities, including lighting.
Within a year it announced it had upgraded the shaft tunnel, replacing deteriorated masonry. The work was also to "limit water ingress from the natural watercourses that seep through the mass of rock above it", according to the Infrastructure Malta website.
In September, the 110m long tunnel beneath St Paul's Bastion, which connects Ghajn Dwieli Road, Paola with It-Tlett Ibliet (Three Cities) Road, Cospicua, was closed overnight for four days for further restoration works on the shaft walls.
The British Royal Navy built the tunnel and its approach roads in 1900 when they were modifying the Cottonera Lines bastions to accommodate two new dry docks (Docks 4 and 5) for the naval shipyards nearby.
Recent works include a new fire door in a rock-cut niche in the tunnel that was used as a chapel by Cospicua residents during World War II.