An inquiry commissioned by the Malta Transport Authority to investigate why the reconstructed road in Hemsija had cracked, has blamed the contractor for “insufficient compaction” of the road’s foundations, The Malta Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Sources close to the Roads and Urban Development Ministry told this newspaper that the report of the inquiry compiled by German experts following extensive tests on samples, revealed that insufficient compaction of the road’s foundations during its re-building caused the road to crack.

The road was part of the comprehensive road-building project financed by the Italo-Maltese Financial Protocol. The sub-contractor responsible for the Hemsija road was Asfaltar Limited, which re-built 4.5 kilometres of the 16.5-kilometre long road.

In January, around five months after the road was completed, a number of cracks in the newly laid asphalt became increasingly obvious. The two cracks were visible in two separate areas measuring 30 metres each – a crack on each carriageway.

The Malta Transport Authority began to monitor the damage and looked into what could have possibly caused the damage, including water and sewage leaks that might have corroded the foundations. However, all checks proved negative and a full-scale investigation started in March.

The report, expected to be made public next week in a press conference by Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett, showed that the layers underneath the asphalt in the road were not compacted as required.

Sources said the problems were identified during a period known as the ‘snagging period’ during which snags and problems are identified and corrective measures taken to rectify them. The road was repaired at the contractor’s expense and samples were taken to be sent abroad for testing. Moreover, tests on the rest of the road showed that there was no indication of further problems. Sources said the experts found no faults in the design of the road, including the specifications of how the road was to be built.

The experts who drew up the report said there must have been a breakdown in the quality assurance process. Various samples were taken at regular intervals during the actual project, within a distance of each other. The sources said the insufficient compaction must have fallen between one sample site and another and therefore went unnoticed.

Apart from this problem, the authorities have identified another two problems in the roads financed by the Italian Protocol. These were a problem in the sewage connection in Zebbug, which was tackled and solved, and a problem with a manhole and the surrounding asphalt in Siggiewi. Tests are currently under way to evaluate the cause and seriousness of the problem. The contractor has not been paid in full pending the outcome of this investigation, sources said.

Sources said that although the roads have been completed for several months, the Malta Transport Authority has not yet issued its go-ahead, better known as the certificate of acceptance. Once this certificate is issued, the five-year guarantee on the roadwork comes into force.

Work on the Fifth Italian Protocol road upgrade programme started in June 2004. The works involved the complete redesign and reconstruction of 16.5 kilometres of arterial and distributor roads, as well as nine major traffic junctions and the shifting of utility infrastructures through common service ducts running under the sidewalks. These roads have a projected lifespan of 25 years.

Three contracts were awarded to three Italian contractors in June 2004 for road reconstruction work on 12km of roads from Luqa to Tar?a Gap in Mosta via Qormi, ?ebbu?, Ta’ Srina and Tal-Qlejja. These were divided into three lots.

Lot One was awarded to Ergon Engineering and Maltese sub-contractor Polidano Bros; Lot Two was awarded to Fratelli Basilotta while Lot Three was awarded to Italian firm Anastasi Snc and Asfaltar Co. Ltd as their Maltese sub-contractors.

A further three contracts were awarded to another three Italian contractors in November 2004 for the reconstruction of an additional 4.5 kilometres of roads, bringing the total length financed by the Fifth Italo-Maltese Protocol to 16.5km – more than 10 per cent of Malta’s arterial and distributor road network.