Repair work to a section of the Railway Trail started last year was never completed, the Government said yesterday.

The news came after a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works announced last week that a section of the trail in the Winton Hill area of Hamilton Parish would be closed for several months for rock stabilisation work to be carried out.

The spokesman confirmed this week that the work was started last year by General Services Ltd with help provided by a “specialist team” from Canadian firm Cimota Ltd — but that it had not been finished.

The spokesman said: “Due to the unforeseen difficulty in obtaining a specific type of concrete for the project, the planned window for the specialists’ visit was missed.

“This prevented completion of the project.”

He said that the section of the trail had been monitored since work stopped and it had been decided it posed a risk for pedestrians.

The spokesman added: “As such, and in the interest of public safety, the decision was made to close off access to that section of Railway Trail until it is made safe.

“To that end, Government will continue to work with General Services, and the Canadian specialist team from Cimota, under the same contractual agreement to complete the repairs and carry out additional work as needed.

“As the project proceeds, due to the nature of rock formations, any additional expense and the full cost of the project will only be known once the work is completed.”

The Royal Gazette reported in February that the contract for the work given to General Services was worth $946,082. The contract was awarded in January 2018 with work expected to be completed last March.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Public Works said at the time: “These intricate works were extensive, and involved scaling of the rock cut, including the removal of vegetation, loose soil, rock, the stabilisation of the rock face by installing rock bolts, filling small voids with lean concrete and applying architecturally rendered shotcrete to the stabilised rock cut.”

The spokesman said last week that barriers and signs would be installed to alert the public to the closure.

He added that work on the site was expected to begin in January next year.

The spokesman said: “The timeline to complete repairs should allow this section of the Railway Trail to open before the start of next summer.”