The first phase of the project that will see the reconstruction of the St Paul’s Bay Bypass, between Burmarrad and the Erbgha Mwiezeb roundabout, is nearing completion, despite several technical problems that have been encountered.

Sources close to the Roads and Urban Development Ministry said the first phase of the project took longer than expected and planned, because the foundations of 1.5 kilometres of the 2.6 kilometre stretch that is being rebuilt were not deemed to be strong enough by the architects.

As a result of this hitch, the road had to be re-designed in order to allow the contractor to apply more and thicker layers to make the foundations stronger. This extra work resulted in a longer time being taken for the first phase of the work to be completed.

Now that the foundations have finally been laid, the first phase is nearing completion. All that is now required in order to complete this first phase is the first layer of asphalt.

However, while work on the first phase was underway, especially during the period when the architects had to re-design the road, work started on the second phase earlier than anticipated and more than half the work planned for the second phase has been completed.

Work on the construction of the Erbgha Mwiezeb roundabout is expected to begin by mid-February. This is considered to be a rather complicated and delicate phase of the project, because most of the electricity, water and sewage mains supplying the north of the country pass underneath this roundabout.

The whole project to re-build the 2.7 kilometre stretch, is one of six being funded by the European Union. The re-

construction of the St Paul’s Bay Bypass is expected to cost e6 million and is funded by the European Union’s Cohesion Fund for the period 2004 to 2006.

The project involves the construction of a pavement along the whole stretch, as well as the laying of new water pipes and electricity cables and a new storm water system.

The project is expected to be completed by the middle of the year and is expected to be fully open to traffic in May.