Infrastructure Malta has started the Għeriexem Road reconstruction project to stop decades of damage to its structure and nearby buildings.

The agency said in a statement that the €4 million Rabat project will also improve pedestrian access with a new belvedere.

IM will be rebuilding the road with reinforced foundations, improve carriageway alignment and build a belvedere with a footpath, benches overlooking the valley and landscaped areas with new trees.

The structure of the new foundations and the belvedere was designed in consultation with environmental and archaeological authorities to minimise the impact on adjacent fields, while safeguarding any buried historical remains.

Photo: Infrastructure Malta

Archaeologists approved by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage are monitoring the works.    

"For many years, residents in this area have been calling on the authorities to stop the gradual sinking of the road along the side of Għeriexem Valley, which is causing extensive damage to their residences, some of which are in danger of collapsing," IM said on Monday.

"Geotechnical investigations on site confirmed that this 800-metre road is built on layers of weak, fractured rock and clay. Its old retaining wall is cracked and irregularly distorted, showing that it is being pushed outwards by the movement of the deep infill materials beneath the road. As rainwater seeps through the cracks in the road, it creates further pressure on this weak retaining wall."

Photo: Infrastructure Malta

Adjacent Għeriexem valley buildings at risk of collapsing

The road and several adjacent buildings are at risk of collapsing, similar to what happened a short distance away, along the upper part of Saqqajja Hill, during a storm a few months ago.

The agency is expediting the works to ensure that most of the underground excavation works can be completed during the dry season.

Accumulation of rainwater on site during coring and other excavation works are in progress risks accelerating the deterioration of the road and its dilapidated retaining wall, IM said. 
 
This week, the agency’s contractors started the preparatory archaeological excavations. Based on the results of these surveys, the superintendence will determine the method of excavation and pile coring required to safeguard any buried archaeological remains.

The drilling of cores for the concrete piles will start as soon as the ongoing surveys are completed.

Photo: Infrastructure Malta