The Federal Government, on Wednesday, sanctioned N6.28bn for surface maintenance of the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos State.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who briefed State House media following this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa said the 24-month rehabilitation will span 11 kilometers including interchanges, ramps, and essential links.
He said that the action was in line with Executive Order 11, which was issued by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired) in April 2022 and gave the nation’s national maintenance program legal standing.
Just two weeks ago, the Lagos State Government announced that it would perform restoration work on the 32-year-old Bridge in order to fix foundation and failing and peeled asphaltic parts.
Fashola countered that there won’t be any overlap in efforts.
The previous governor of Lagos State stated that while the FG will handle surface maintenance to fix potholes and replace missing guard rails, the State’s Public Works Corporation will concentrate on the bridge’s functioning structure, such as the underwater piles.
“Council approved a fresh contract for the maintenance of the pavement of the third mainland bridge and this was approved in the sum of N6.28bn for a period of 24 months,” he claimed.People have questioned me about previous work that has been done on the bridge. The works are concentrating largely on the substructure of the bridge; the underwater piles, the pile caps and also the replacement of the expansion joints and the bearings.
“The structural integrity of the bridge depends on these maintenance tasks. The situation we’re in now is different. Both the driving surface and the aesthetics are involved. The rails have been stolen in part. At the entrances and exits to the bridge, several of the pleats are out of place.
Fashola stated that no extended closures are envisaged throughout the construction.
The council also accepted a N17.5 billion adjustment for the contract for building the old Enugu-Onitsha road, whose current price is N48.99 billion.
