The Tunnel Rehabilitation Project will be finished in the “coming weeks”, a spokesperson for Infrastructure Malta (IM) told The Malta Independent, as works in the tunnels continue months beyond their initial targeted dates of completion.

The project to upgrade Malta’s four main tunnels in Kirkop, Santa Venera, Tal-Qroqq and Ta’ Giorni, kicked off in August 2020 and Infrastructure Malta had initially said that all works would be completed by June 2021.

While the major works of the project, including repairs to tunnel tubes using specialised materials, new underground networks and resurfacing, among other things, were completed by June, IM had then revised its expected completion date to the end of September, again when speaking to this newsroom.

However, works are still ongoing in some of the four tunnels, with the roads agency now telling this newsroom, after being asked about the delays, that all that’s left will be completed within the “coming weeks”.

The delivery of some of the equipment to Malta experienced delays due to Covid-19 restrictions in the countries where it was being manufactured.

A spokesperson for the roads agency said that the remaining works “include the installation of fire alarms, emergency call stations and other final touches”.

These works are being carried out at night, while keeping at least one lane in each direction open to road users, the agency said.

The project has so far cost €14,759,022.71 – quite a way above the initially announced cost of €10m – with each tunnel costing roughly €3.7m.

The cost has been criticised, with PN MP Jason Azzopardi suggesting that the bulk of it was awarded via direct order.

The Malta Independent has previously quizzed IM over the tunnels’ budget, particularly after the company, which had won the tender for the works, BIFRA JV, received €652,215 in a tender variation in the first six months of the year.

To this, the roads agency had said that during the implementation of the Tunnels Rehabilitation Project, it was requested to lay new water pipelines and electricity cables beneath one of the tunnel’s carriageways. These trenching requirements were not known when the contract was awarded, necessitating part of the indicated variation.

“At the same time, IM upgraded the asphalt used for the resurfacing of the four tunnels to the new, longer-lasting polymer-modified material that the agency started using in arterial Maltese roads in 2020. IM had not yet introduced this type of asphalt in Malta when the tunnels’ project call for tenders was issued in 2019,” the spokesperson had said.

The works in the tunnel have also seen the construction of new fire hydrant pipelines, new stormwater catchments and the construction of new control rooms outside each of these tunnels.

Following consultations with the Civil Protection Department and the Water Services Corporation, IM also built underground reservoirs outside two of these tunnels, where no alternative water supply was readily available, to harvest water for the new firefighting systems.

In the control rooms, IM installed control systems of the new mechanical and electrical systems in each tunnel. They include intelligent lighting systems that alter their intensity at different parts of the tunnel and at different times of day, to improve drivers’ visibility, as well as security cameras and air quality sensors.

The emergency escapes in each tunnel have been upgraded and equipped with fire doors, emergency exit signage and evacuation marker lights.

In case of an emergency, the tunnels’ systems can be monitored and operated from the new control rooms. The CCTV cameras and sensors will also be linked to the national Traffic Control Centre for constant monitoring. They will also be connected to an incident detection system that can automatically alert the emergency response authorities of any difficulties, such as fires or stalled vehicles.