The federal government has disclosed the scope and timeline of the work that will be done on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
Olukorede Kesha, Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, who revealed this at the closure of the bridge to signal the beginning of repair work, said there would be complete removal and replacement of the asphalt of the bridge’s deck to the standard two inches to make motoring experience smoother and safer.
The controller added that the rehabilitation work on the bridge would also include the replacement of some expansion joints, pointing out that work on the bridge would last between six and eight weeks.
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Additionally, she said, there would be rehabilitation work under the bridge which would be flagged off at the weekend by the Minister for Works, David Umahi, meaning that work would take place simultaneously on the lagoon sections and the top deck of the bridge.
“A carefully selected competent contractors for the project were going to work round the clock for speedy completion of the top deck work on the bridge,” she assured, adding, “There will be 24 24-hour construction here and that is why it is fast-tracked to eight weeks.”
Kesha supervised the closure of the bridge at the Iyana Oworonshoki-Adeniji Adele section, just at the intersection where motorists coming from Ojota link the bridge.
She was accompanied to the site by the Lagos Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Kayode Farinloye; the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi; Commissioner of Police, Fayoade Adekoya, and other top officials.
She told newsmen at the site that the closure of the bridge would be done in two phases daily and traffic diverted to different carriageways at different times in order to give motorists the opportunity to use the bridge while the rehabilitation works continued.
“Mainland in-bound Lagos Island lane will be open from 12am to noon, while those who intend to come from the Island to the Mainland will use Eko Bridge; from 12pm to midnight, motorists will be able to access the bridge from the Island to the Mainland, while motorists from the Mainland heading towards the Island would have to use Eko or Carter Bridge,” she explained.
The controller said she was confident that there would be seamless traffic flow and management because of the collaboration with the traffic and law enforcement heads who would be physically present.
She pleaded with motorists to obey traffic rules and use alternative routes to prevent hardship and stressful commuting experiences.
On his part, Osiyemi expressed satisfaction with the collaboration between the state and federal governments, assuring that 250 Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials would be deployed to work with road safety officials on the project.
Also, the state Commissioner of Police promised top-notch security for the project, while his FRSC counterpart promised to ensure all exits and links to the bridge were properly manned.
