Roads agency to repair deteriorating Qormi-Marsa bridge structure

Maintenance works on the bridge that carries the Hamrun bypass will start shortly as Genoa tragedy sensitised people to poor road infrastructure

A photo of the exposed steel bars in one of the columns that prop up the Qormi-Marsa bridge posted on Facebook by a concerned person
A photo of the exposed steel bars in one of the columns that prop up the Qormi-Marsa bridge posted on Facebook by a concerned person

Works to strengthen the Qormi-Marsa bridge structure will be undertaken shortly by the roads agency, Transport Minister Ian Borg said.

The bridge carries the Hamrun bypass and over the past few days people sensitised by the road tragedy in Genoa, Italy, circulated photos on Facebook of the deteriorating concrete structure.

Transport Minister Ian Borg
Transport Minister Ian Borg

Borg said Infrastructure Malta will be undertaking maintenance work on the bridge as part of the extensive roadworks in the area to widen the Hamrun bypass.

Another picture of the upper part of the bridge that was circulating on Facebook
Another picture of the upper part of the bridge that was circulating on Facebook

The agency is currently carrying out technical studies to determine the type and extent of the interventions required.

The minister noted that over the past few weeks, Infrastructure Malta finished the first phase of works to strengthen the structure of the bridge at Mistra. Technical studies had revealed that parts of the structure that were built 130 years ago were in danger of collapsing.