The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State will receive N6.28 billion for surface maintenance.
This follows the approval of funds by the Federal Executive Council at a meeting on Wednesday.
After this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works and housing, briefed the State House reporters.
He stated that the 11 kilometers of repairs, which will span over a 24-month period, will include interchanges, ramps, and crucial links.
He noted that the action was consistent with Executive Order 11, which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2022 and gave the nation’s national maintenance program legal standing.
The announcement comes just two weeks after the Lagos State Government announced it would carry out restoration work on the 32-year-old Bridge to fix the substructure and failing and peeled asphaltic portions.
However, Fashola argued that there will be no duplication of efforts.
The former Lagos State governor said the State’s Public Works Corporation will focus on the functional structure of the bridge such as the underwater piles, while the FG will undertake surface maintenance to treat potholes and restore missing guard rails.
He said “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.
“I have been asked about the works that have been done on the bridge before. 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.
“These are maintenance works that are critical to the structural integrity of the bridge. What we’re dealing with now is different. It is the driving surface and also the aesthetics. Some of the rails have been stolen. Some of the pleats are misaligned at the routes that lead you on and off the bridge.”
Fashola added that there are no anticipated prolonged closures during the works.
Meanwhile, the council also approved N17.5bn variation for the contract for the construction of the old Enugu-Onitsha road whose current sum now stands at N48.99bn.