A network arch bridge was designed as part of a project submitted at the faculty for the Built Environment at the University of Malta. As of today, a bridge primarily composed of stone masonry and reinforced concrete exists with several supports reaching the valley floor, making it highly invasive.

Given that 'Wied id-Dis' valley in Mosta, Malta is scheduled as an area of high landscape value and listed as ecological natural heritage, it requires the highest form of protection. A single span bridge would restore the valley's ecological system to its original state.

The design provides ample area for pedestrians and cyclists, whilst maintaining the existing two single-lanes for vehicular traffic. 

The project aims to address the future landscape of the Maltese Islands in 2066 on a physical, environmental and societal level.

In 2019, only 1% of the plastic waste on the Maltese Islands was completely recycled. With the construction of a new government multi-material recovery facility (MMRF), the project aims to organically formulate new connections within the village through the research, training, collection and fabrication of plastics.

The approach to designing for the future requires a modern one. This is why the project strongly bases VR/AR teaching as an integral tool in the future of education, a new instrument that the general public is still relatively unaware of its implications in the field of research and training.

The centre hosts three floors of laboratories (raw materials/construction/electronics), a research centre (including a lecture hall) and virtual/augmented reality areas.

The presence of microcracks, which emerge during the service life of all reinforced concrete structures, has a significant impact on concrete durability. Concrete inherently possesses certain natural autogenous healing features as the dissolution and carbonation of Calcium hydroxide precipitates Calcium carbonate, sealing the microcrack.

In recent years, researchers have looked into natural solutions as alternative options to environmentally unsustainable components including bacterial spores in the concrete mixture, healing the cracks through microbially-induced calcium carbonate precipitation which reduces the rate of absorption to the cementitious matrix.

Another approach is to introduce a crystalline admixture which substantially improves the healing performance. The study shows an improved recovery of durability properties, with noticeable enhanced healing in the additive-containing specimens whose intensity was dependent on the additive type, initial crack width and exposure condition.

This research project has been awarded joint first place during the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions annual dissertation presentations.