Mr Simon Barakat, the Site Manager on the ongoing rehabilitation of Marine Beach Bridge in Apapa, Lagos, said on Wednesday that the project had achieved 75 per cent completion.
Barakat told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the Lagos/Ijora-bound route, which forms the first phase, would be completed on March 29.
The senior engineer with Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd., the contractors handling the project, said from March 29, that the carriageway would be opened to traffic and work would shift to the Apapa-bound carriageway.
NAN reports that workmen were seen fixing cables and iron rods on top of the bridge on the Lagos/Ijora bound carriageway.
Also, workmen were carrying out various construction works underneath the bridge which included welding and lying of beams using several scaffoldings.
Barakat said, “We have completed about 75 per cent of work on the entire project.
“This bridge was damaged by fire from an explosion from a petroleum-laden tanker.
“So we are strengthening the beams of the bridge, we are post-tensioning the slabs of the bridge with new cables to strengthen the bridge.
“When we complete the work on this side within 24 days which will be on March 29, we would open this bound to traffic and close the Apapa bound for repairs.
“We are following our programme to complete work on the bridge between June and July,’’ he said.
Barakat said that the aim of the project was to strengthen the slabs and beams of the bridge to prevent future collapse.
He said that the next phase of work on the Apapa-bound carriageway was going to take 24 days to complete.
The site manager said that the final stage of the work which would be changing of bearings of the bridge on both carriageways would take 80 days to complete.
“We will open the bridge for traffic, but when it is time to change the bearings, we will close each bound carriageway for 40 days because at that stage, we will need to fill in more concrete,’’ he said.
Mrs Bola Suleiman, an engineer with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, who is supervising the project, told NAN that measures were in place to manage heavy traffic when work moves to the Apapa-bound carriageway.
“I have told my engineers to begin repair of the bad sections because managing the heavy traffic that comes to Apapa will be a huge task.
“So we are working ahead to make sure the roads and alternative routes are in good condition before March 29,’’ she said.
NAN reports that the Marine Beach Bridge which was damaged by fire about 10 years ago was closed for repairs on March 5 after several meetings of stakeholders.
The contract for its repair was awarded in 2012, but the contractor abandoned the project apparently due to lack of fund.
The Marine Beach Bridge repair was captured in the 2017 budget. (NAN)