Grand Harbour Breakwater repairs in progress

• 29 Sep, 2020 |

Infrastructure Malta is implementing a €1 million project to repair and restore the two arms of the 1910 Grand Harbour Breakwater and its 2012 steel bridge. 
 
Decades of waves battering the 110-year-old breakwater dislodged many of the large blocks of this breakwater’s coping structure, putting it at risk of further erosion and irreparable damage. Infrastructure Malta is replacing the missing elements, whilst carrying out other maintenance and restoration works to this important coastal infrastructure. 

At the same time, the agency is carrying out major maintenance and refurbishment works to the steel bridge connecting one of the breakwater’s arms with Valletta.

The Grand Harbour Breakwater system consists of two separate structures. The longer arm, on the Valletta (Fort St Elmo) side of the port, is a 370-metre structure physically detached from the mainland. The second arm extends 120 metres from the shore beneath Kalkara (Fort Ricasoli) on the other side of the harbour. King Edward laid the first stone of this British Government project during a visit to Malta in 1903. Despite several setbacks due to bad weather during its construction, the breakwater was completed in 1910, at a total cost of about £1 million.  

As part of the ongoing Infrastructure Malta repair works, a team of divers and other workers retrieved the original coping stones that had fallen into the sea around the breakwater through the years. They cleaned and inspected the salvaged stones to make sure they were suitable for re-installation, before reinstating them at the edge of the breakwater’s deck. The project contractors also imported similar limestone blocks from a quarry in Trani, in the Puglia region of Italy, to replace the ones that were broken by the force of the waves. 

At the same time, the project workers are also carrying out other repairs to the deck slabs, whilst cleaning the masonry from tar stains and other deposits.  

The original 1910 breakwater also included a bridge connecting the Fort St Elmo arm to the Valletta foreshore. This steel structure was destroyed by Italian e-boats during World War II.  A similar bridge was built in the same location eight years ago. Infrastructure Malta is carrying out major maintenance works to this bridge as well. Workers are repairing and repainting the steel structure and replacing the damaged sections of its wooden deck. The agency will eventually also install new handrails and new electrical circuits with an improved lighting system.

Weather permitting, all repair and maintenance works of the breakwater and its bridge will be ready by the end of this year.    

Infrastructure Malta is currently also finalising plans for several other projects to improve the sustainability and efficiency of the Grand Harbour, Malta’s principal port. In the coming months it will start the €49.9 million Grand Harbour Clean Air Project, which includes the development of shore power facilities for cruise liners and Ro-Ro vessels whilst they are berthed at port. This investment will cut over 90% of the air pollution that cruise liners and Ro-Ro ships produce when visiting Malta. Other projects in the next few years will see the reconstruction of Sally Port, in Vittoriosa, as well as the upgrading of the Deep Water Quay, Pinto Wharf, Lascaris Wharf and Fuel Wharf (Ras Hanzir). 

Technical studies for the design and construction of a new breakwater, a berm and a revetment in the Fort St Elmo area of the Harbour are also in progress. These new structures will provide additional shelter to the harbour, facilitating safer operations under different weather conditions.  

Infrastructure Malta’s maritime team is currently also implementing several other major coastal investments in Malta and Gozo, including the construction of a new 110-metre breakwater in Qrejten, Marsaxlokk and the upgrading of berthing pontoons in the area known as “Il-Maghluq”, in the same fishing port. The €6 million upgrade of the quays, slipways and pontoons used by fishers in Gozo’s Mgarr Harbour is nearing completion. Other ongoing projects include the development of new landing facilities for ferry passengers in Sliema and Cospicua, and the maintenance and reconstruction of several quays and jetties in Marsascala, Mgarr ix-Xini, Balluta Bay and Cirkewwa.#

Rebuilding two St Thomas Bay jetties

• 20 Aug, 2020 |

Infrastructure Malta is rebuilding two of the three jetties at St Thomas Bay, Marsascala, after parts of them were destroyed by years of sea erosion and storm damage.

The two 50-metre jetties were in such a dilapidated state that they had become dangerous to bathers, fishing and boating enthusiasts and other persons who visit this popular bay. The €3 million project to rebuild these jetties forms part of Infrastructure Malta’s ongoing commitment to upgrade the quality of infrastructure in ports and other coastal locations in Malta and Gozo. 

Most of the demolition and reconstruction works of these two jetties need to be expedited during the summer months, when the sea is calmer, to ensure workers’ safety and to minimise the risks of adverse environmental impacts on the bay’s marine environment. 

Last month, workers started demolishing and carting away the remains of these structures, taking all precautions to mitigate dust dispersion and to stop debris from spilling into the bay. Infrastructure Malta’s architects planned the new jetties using improved, safer designs and better-quality materials to extend their lifetime. The agency’s contractors are forming them using precast elements and other reinforced concrete structures cast in situ. 

All works are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The agency is considering separate projects to upgrade other coastal structures in St Thomas Bay, including quays and slip ways next to the new jetties, which are also in need of major repairs.

Infrastructure Malta is currently also finalising another €840,000 project to rebuild two quays in the Zonqor area of Marsascala Bay, in the same locality. Parts of these quays and their access paths had collapsed after years of erosion and neglect. The agency retrieved large concrete blocks forming part of their structure from the seabed a few metres out at sea, after they had been dragged there by strong currents, creating an underwater hazard to bathers and mariners. The project contractors rebuilt the two quays’ main structures in recent months and are now completing the last finishes.

Infrastructure Malta completes base structure of new Qrejten Breakwater

• 16 Jun, 2020 |

Infrastructure Malta completed the base structure of the new 110-metre Qrejten Breakwater, a €4 million investment to shelter the Marsaxlokk fishing port and surrounding coastal areas.

The agency’s contractors used 306 large precast concrete blocks to build this six-metre wide structure, submerged up to 3.5 metres from the surface to the seabed. The builders and a team of divers lowered the hollow blocks on a levelling platform, before filling and binding them together with poured concrete. The entire underwater structure of this long breakwater comprises a mass of 4,952 tonnes of concrete and rebar.

For many years, Marsaxlokk fishers have been calling for a new breakwater to protect the inner harbour area from rough seas, limiting the risks of storm damages to their anchored vessels and other equipment on shore. By absorbing the power of high waves entering this part of the harbour, the breakwater will also limit their impact on the buildings and business operations along the Marsaxlokk promenade, one of Malta’s principal tourism zones.   

Plans for this project were handed over to Infrastructure Malta in 2019, when it was entrusted with the development and maintenance of the country’s maritime infrastructure. Its contractors started works on site in July of the same year. Weather permitting, the agency plans to complete the project by end 2020. Qrejten Point is very exposed to the elements and planned works often need to be rescheduled to ensure workers’ safety and to avoid environmental consequences in surrounding waters.

The project has now entered its next phase with the casting of the breakwater structures above sea level, including a 2.3-metre high wave wall and an outer cope beam. The tip of the breakwater will also feature a seven-metre lighthouse with beacons to signal the structure location to mariners navigating in this area. The entire concrete structure will be surrounded with a sloping rock armour made of 30,285 tonnes of hardstone boulders, like the ones around the Mgarr Harbour’s breakwater in Gozo. Infrastructure Malta’s contractors are quarrying this hardstone from a quarry in Dingli and gradually laying it around the breakwater’s base structure. This armour will attenuate waves entering the harbour, as they hit the breakwater.

Before the rocks are deposited around the breakwater, Infrastructure Malta is testing their strength, porosity and density in specialised laboratories, to ensure they meet the required specifications. Similar tests also ascertain the technical specifications and quality levels of concrete and all other materials used for this project. 

Infrastructure Malta’s maritime team is currently implementing several other major coastal investments in Malta and Gozo. In Marsaxlokk Harbour, the agency is starting a project to upgrade the berthing pontoons in the area known as “Il-Maghluq”. It is also starting preliminary studies to identify the best location and type of structure for another similar protective structure in the Delimara area of the harbour, to shelter this side of Marsaxlokk’s coastline as well.  

The €6 million upgrade of the quays, slipways and pontoons used by fishers in Gozo’s Mgarr Harbour is nearing completion. Another ongoing project includes the development of new landing facilities for ferry passengers in Sliema and Cospicua. Infrastructure Malta is also working on the maintenance and reconstruction of other quays in Marsascala, Mgarr ix-Xini, Balluta Bay and Cirkewwa.

The agency is also finalising plans for several projects to improve the sustainability and efficiency of the Grand Harbour, Malta’s principal port. Earlier this year, it announced the €49.9 million Grand Harbour Clean Air Project, which includes the development of shore power facilities for cruise liners and Ro-Ro vessels whilst they are berthed at port. This investment will cut over 90% of the air pollution that cruise liners and Ro-Ro ships produce when visiting Malta. Other projects in the next few years will see the reconstruction of Sally Port, in Vittoriosa, as well as the upgrading of the Deep Water Quay, Pinto Wharf, Lascaris Wharf and Fuel Wharf (Ras Hanzir).
 

New Mgarr Harbour quays nearing completion

• 14 May, 2020 |

Infrastructure Malta is completing the final works of the new quays and slipways in Gozo’s Mgarr Harbour, as part of a €6 million project to improve the infrastructure used by this area’s fishing community.

The agency is using over 7,857 tonnes of concrete and 630 tonnes of reinforcing steel bars to rebuild the quays in an improved design, with longer-lasting structures.

Through this EU-funded project, Infrastructure Malta is also installing four new pontoons and other facilities for increased safety, improved access and increased berthing spaces for fishers based in this Harbour. The pontoons will include 90 additional berths for fishers who have long been waiting for such sheltered spaces for their fishing boats.

Through the years, the seabed in this part of the Harbour was gradually covered with layers of mud and other sediments, making it difficult for fishers to manoeuvre their vessels close to the shore. Through this investment, the area is also being dredged to a depth of approximately 2.5 metres to facilitate navigation.

Infrastructure Malta will also build new facilities for the separation and safe disposal of waste generated by the fishing industry in this port, so that nearby public spaces in this harbour are kept tidy and clean.

Besides creating new infrastructure for the fishing industry, this project is also contributing to the embellishment of the inner Mgarr Harbour area, which is very popular amongst locals and tourists for seaside walks towards Zewwieqa Beach, further out along the same coast.             

This project is co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund of the European Union, and by the Ministry for Gozo.

As part of its ongoing commitment to upgrade Malta’s maritime infrastructure, Infrastructure Malta has recently completed the reconstruction of a seaside platform in Mgarr ix-Xini, in Sannat, Gozo and a smaller quay in Santa Marija Bay, Comino. It is currently also working on multi-million projects in other coastal areas, including the new breakwater at Qrejten Point, Marsaxlokk, the reconstruction of quays in Marsascala and St Julian’s and new landing facilities for ferry passengers in Sliema and Cospicua. 

Introducing the Grand Harbour Clean Air Project

• 04 Feb, 2020 |

Infrastructure Malta is launching a €49.9 million shore side electricity project to cut over 90% of the air pollution that cruise liners and Ro-Ro ships produce when visiting the Grand Harbour.

The Grand Harbour Clean Air Project includes the development of the electricity infrastructure required for cruise liners, and eventually Ro-Ro vessels, to switch off their gas- or heavy-fuel-oil-fired engines and plug in to shore side electricity to power their onboard systems, including their catering and “hotel” services, whilst they are berthed at port. The first of this two-phased project includes a €37 million investment to provide shore power (also known as cold ironing) on the five main cruise ship quays of the Grand Harbour by end 2023. The second phase will extend the project to another two quays, which are also used by Ro-Ros.   

A 2015 European report indicates that one cruise ship berthed at port for eight hours produces an estimated 1.2 tonnes of nitrogen dioxide, the equivalent of 300,000 cars driving from Cirkewwa (Mellieha) to Marsaxlokk. It releases 30 kilograms of particulate matter, the same as 180,000 cars travelling the same distance across Malta. According to the National Statistics Office, 372 cruise liners visited Malta in 2019.  

Through the first phase of this Infrastructure Malta project, the emissions of cruise ships visiting Malta will be drastically reduced, improving air quality in several localities in the northern and southern harbour regions. By switching off their auxiliary engines, cruise liners visiting Valletta will emit 93% less nitrogen dioxide, 92.6% less particulate matter and 99.6% less sulphur dioxide. These pollutants are among the principal causes of respiratory illnesses and other health issues. The first phase of the Grand Harbour Clean Air Project will also cut 39.6% of the cruise liners’ carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to climate change.

The first phase of the project  includes the installation of two frequency converter stations and the laying of a 22-kilometre underground and subsea cable network to distribute electricity from Enemalta’s nearest primary substation (distribution centre) in Marsa, to Pinto Wharf (three quays), in Floriana, the Deep Water Quay, in Marsa and Boiler Wharf (one quay), in Senglea. These are the main quays used by cruise liners visiting Malta. Shore side transformers and shore-to-ship connection panels will link this network to the vessels to be able to switch off their engines as soon as they berth. 

The second phase of the project will extend shore side electricity to Laboratory Wharf and Ras Hanzir (Fuel Wharf), in Paola. These two quays can also be used by Ro-Ro ships, which berth at the Grand Harbour to ferry wheeled cargo, such as cars and trucks to and from Malta.   

Preliminary studies indicate that through this project, within 20 years Malta will save up to €375 million in costs linked to the measurable consequences of air pollution, such as impacts on health, the natural environment, infrastructure and agriculture. It will also reduce the impact of noise and engine vibrations in the Grand Harbour area. These health and environmental benefits will make the project the second-largest contribution to improved air quality in Malta following the decommissioning of heavy fuel oil power stations in Marsa and Marsaxlokk in 2017.   
 
Most of the cables required to connect the quays to Enemalta’s Marsa North Distribution Centre will be laid in existing or new underground culverts, or buried in trenches, in nearby roads. Some cables crossing the Harbour will be buried in undersea trenches. Two frequency converter stations are required to convert electricity to the frequencies used on board cruise liners and other ships. One of them will be installed in part of an old industrial shed in Boiler Wharf, which will also be restored and conserved as part of Malta’s industrial heritage. Another frequency station will be built in the Deep Water Quay area, next to an existing industrial structure.

Infrastructure Malta has already submitted the initial project plans to the planning and environmental authorities to launch the applicable development permitting process, including public consultation. It is also presenting this proposal to the European Commission, since it qualifies for funding through the Connecting Europe Facility. The European Union’s 2014 directive on the deployment of alternative fuels (2014/ 94/EU) stipulates that member states should prioritise the introduction of shore-side electricity supply in ports of the TEN-T Core Network, such as the Grand Harbour, by end 2025. Infrastructure Malta is planning to complete the first phase of the project by 2023.

By reducing air pollution in the region, the Grand Harbour Clean Air Project will contribute towards EU and national climate change objectives in line with the Paris Agreement, which obliges ports to reduce the carbon footprint of their land-based activities as well as the decarbonisation of shipping activities. The reduction in emissions also contributes towards meeting the obligations of Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe.

Photos courtesy of Valletta Cruise Port