A call for tenders has been published for the structural consolidation and conservation of the Victoria aqueduct “using environmentally friendly measures,” Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri has said.

This is the third and final phase of the project which will focus on the structural consolidation of the foundations and the aqueduct conservation.

He was replying to a Parliamentary Question by Opposition MP Chris Said, who requested an update on the current situation on the conservation of the aqueduct, including whether a call had been issued, if it was awarded and when work was planned to start.

Minister Camilleri advised that the call will close on the 12th of December.

The Gozo aqueduct was built by the British between 1839 and 1843 to bring water from Ghar Ilma cave in Santa Lucija to Victoria, where it was stored in a reservoir within the Cittadella ditch.

This icon of the island is being restored in a project aimed at the constructural consolidation and preservation of the structure.

The Ministry for Gozo had said that this project is being carried out by a multidisciplinary team of experts led by conservation architect Dr Hermann Bonnici and is “expected to cost €2 million and will be completed by the end of 2025.”

The first phase of works, the urgent consolidation of the vulnerable parts of the aqueducts, was completed in 2017 under the then Gozo Minister, Justyne Caruana.

File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary

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