Third Mainland Bridge repair may soon end

The Federal Ministry of Works, on Monday, said that if the weather and other factors remained friendly, the nightmare of Lagos residents following the closure of the bridge would soon end.

Work on one of the eight faulty expansion joints of the Third Mainland Bridge was on Monday completed and the bridge partially re-opened to users on the Adeniji-Adele-bound lane. 

Mr Oluwtoyin Obikoya, Lagos State Controller, Federal Ministry of Works, said that if work on the bridge was sustained it might result in early delivery by the contractor.

Obikoya, who refused to be specific on the possible completion date, said that the bridge was closed on Sunday to enable the casting of one of the demolished expansion joints to be reconstructed.

He said that the total closure was to prevent any vibration on the bridge because of vehicular movement in order to avoid cracks on the newly cast joints.

According to him, cracks on the newly cast joint will result in premature failure of the reconstruction work.

Obikoya said that it may take about two weeks for the reconstruction of the two joints between the Adeniji-Adele and Oworonshoki-bound lane.

``The first of the three joints on the Oworonshoki-Adeniji-Adele lane was completed yesterday. They (contractors) hope to cast the second one by next week Sunday,” he said

The rehabilitation of the dual carriage bridge started on July 7, which resulted in the closure of one side to enable work to go on the three faulty joints.

The controller explained that casting was done on Sundays because of the light traffic usually observed at the weekends.