The Federal government has explained why it wants to close the Third Mainland Bridge totally for 72 hours, starting from the mid-night of Friday, December 25, a few hours after Christmas celebrations.
Government says the total closure of the 11.8 kilometre bridge, which links Lagos Mainland to the Island, is to enable the contractor carry out a critical and delicate aspect of the on-going repair work on the bridge which involves casting of concrete on its three expansion joints.
Olukayode Popoola, federal controller of works in Lagos, who confirmed the planned closure to BusinessDay, explained further that the total closure is to ensure vehicles are not on the bridge at any time while the concrete casting is going on.
“This is to prevent vibration of the bridge. If we allow vehicles to be moving on one lane, there will definitely be vibrations and the concrete will not set properly”, Popoola explained.
He stressed that the effective time and date for the closure of the bridge would be from 12:00 midnight of December 25, 2020 meaning that people will be allowed to use the bridge to celebrate Christmas up to that time of the night.
“By the time the Christmas is winding down, which is 12:00 midnight, we are going to close it so that we will be able to cast the concrete on Saturday and Sunday, December 26 and 27 respectively, he said, adding, “we need about 72 hours for this concrete to set. Therefore, the reopening of the bridge will be on the mid-night of Monday, December 28.”
The controller assured that the alternative routes were in good condition and traffic regulatory agencies would be deployed to effectively divert and manage traffic to avert gridlock, appealing to road users to cooperate with traffic regulatory agencies.
A six-month repair work schedule on the bridge started in July 2020, targetting completion in January 2021. But the completion date has now been adjusted to February 2021 as the first phase of the repair work suffered one month delay due to the nationwide EndSARS protest in October.
Third Mainland Bridge, constructed by the military government in 1990 and adjudged the longest in Africa until 1996 when the October 6 Bridge in Cairo, Egypt was completed, starts from Oworonshoki, which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele interchange on Lagos Island.
Repair work on the bridge is phased into two, A and B, for three months on each carriageway, starting with the Mainland- bound carriageway on which work has been completed after four months instead of the scheduled three. Phase B where work is on-going is the Island-bound carriageway.
On a consistent basis, traffic is partially diverted on the 3.5km stretch of the bridge, between Adeniji Adeniji ramp and Ebute Meta, where repair work is ongoing. Different time intervals are allotted for traffic diversions on the bridge to give the contractor time and space to do his work.
