The Għajn Dwieli tunnel leading into Cospicua was opened to traffic on Friday afternoon, 24 hours after the tunnel was closed due to rocks falling beneath the underpass.
No details have been given about the rock collapse with officials blaming bad weather.
The tunnel was closed on Thursday afternoon when Transport Malta told drivers to avoid driving through the area and seek alternative routes. The rocks did not hit any cars, and no injuries were reported, the police said.
The road is a major access route into Cottonera’s walled cities of Cospicua, Senglea and Vittoriosa.
Questions have been sent to Infrastructure Malta, Transport Malta, and the Heritage Ministry, asking for more information about the rock collapse.
In 2021, Infrastructure Malta began a €2.2 million restoration project on the tunnel, reinforcing its structural integrity and upgrading amenities, including lighting.
Within a year, it announced it had upgraded the shaft tunnel, replacing deteriorated masonry. The work was also to “limit water ingress from the natural watercourses that seep through the mass of rock above it”, according to the Infrastructure Malta website.
In September, the 110m long tunnel beneath St Paul’s Bastion, which connects Ghajn Dwieli Road, Paola, with It-Tlett Ibliet (Three Cities) Road, Cospicua, was closed overnight for four days for further restoration works on the shaft walls.
The British Royal Navy built the tunnel and its approach roads in 1900 when they were modifying the Cottonera Lines bastions to accommodate two new dry docks (Docks 4 and 5) for the naval shipyards nearby.
Recent works include a new fire door in a rock-cut niche in the tunnel that was used as a chapel by Cospicua residents during World War II.