The bridge connecting Swieqi and Paceville was closed to traffic on Tuesday night following spalling damage, Infrastructure Malta said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson told Times of Malta that the bridge and underneath passageway were reopened for vehicular and pedestrian traffic by Wednesday morning.

Spalling is the deterioration of steel-reinforced concrete  - in severe cases, concrete sections completely break away from the reinforcing rebar, exposing it to the elements.

In March, independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola had raised concern about the structure, questioning whether the bridge was on the “verge of collapsing”.

But IM had said the bridge did not pose an "imminent danger”, stressing plans to demolish the bridge were part of a wider project announced last January to improve the area.

In April IM carried out works to repair cracks in the road surface of the bridge

Late on Tuesday, Swieqi local council candidate Jordan Galea Pace posted photos of concrete on the ground in the underpass. 

"Utterly shocking. What was predicted to happen is happening. I brought this up a few weeks ago and no action has been taken since: they covered up the sinking bridge with a fresh layer of tarmac but ignored the foundation and haven’t answered the requests for clarification," he wrote on Facebook.

"Is anyone going to be held responsible? Is anyone going to take action? Or are we just going to sit and wait till Swieqi Bridge collapses on residents?"

On Wednesday IM said in a statement that during scheduled maintenance on Triq Mikiel Anton Vassalli in St Julian's, which passes over the underpass connecting Triq is-Swieqi to Triq Santu Wistin, workers noticed that part of the concrete had cracked and fell off.

"The bridge was immediately closed, and an emergency intervention was carried out by workers under professional supervision to promptly remove any loose concrete sections.

"The bridge was safely reopened a few hours later after being certified by an architect."