The Federal Government has announced a 72-hour total shutdown of the Third Mainland Bridge to cast concrete on the expansion joints.
According to a report from News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this disclosure was made by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola on Tuesday, December 22, 2020, during a media chat.
He pointed out that construction works is now at the stage of casting concrete on additional 3 expansion joints.
What the Federal Controller of Works is saying
Popoola said,
- “There is going to be total closure of Third Mainland Bridge in order to allow for the casting of three number expansion joints on the Island Bound lane. The effective date of the closure will be from 12:00 midnight of 25th of December. So people will be allowed to use the Third Mainland Bridge to celebrate Christmas.’’
- “By the time the Christmas is winding down which is 12:00 midnight, we are going to close it, so that we will be able to cast the concrete on Saturday the 26th and on 27th we cast again. And we need about 72 hours for this concrete to set. Therefore, the opening will be on the 28th December midnight, that is 72-hour closure.
- “This is to prevent vibration of the bridge. If we allow vehicles to be moving on one lane, there is going to be vibrations and the concrete will not set properly.”
While pointing out that traffic management agencies had been deployed to effectively divert and manage traffic to avert gridlock, the federal controller of works revealed that all the alternative routes are in good condition.
Going further, Popoola announced a 48-hour partial closure of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from December 28 to December 29 to complete some work on a fly over bridge on the project. He said,
- “The contractor, Messers Julius Berger wants to install cross beams at Kilometre 16, that is, around MFM. That area will be cordoned off, there will be closure within that section from 12:00pm on 28th of December and it will be opened to traffic by 5:00am the following day. 200 meters to get to that particular location we have diversion and another diversion 200 meters away from that place.
- “One lane will be opened to traffic, it is only one lane we are closing to traffic at a time. The first lane that we are going to close is outward Lagos, that is the Ibadan bound carriageway, we will close it on the 28th. And then the second day which is 29th, we are moving to the other lane which is inward Lagos, the same 12:00pm to 5:00am. We regret all the inconvenience and hardship this might have created.’’
He said that all the construction zones has been cleared and the highway is opened to traffic which was responsible for seamless movement on the road.
What you should know
- It can be recalled that the Federal Government had announced the partial shutdown of Third Mainland Bridge for a period of 6 months, with effect from July 24, 2020, for maintenance work.
- The repair works had to be extended by a further one month due to disruptions caused by the recent #EndSARS protests in Lagos, thereby extending the completion date from January 2021 to February 2021.
- On the other hand, the reconstruction/rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was flagged off in 2013 by former President Goodluck Jonathan and was awarded to two firms.
- Julius Berger is constructing section one which spans from Ojota in Lagos to Sagamu Interchange, while RCC is working from the Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan, according to NAN.
It is a necessary one, I am in support since the said 72 hours are meant to be off work.
Thank you for the timely and vital information. This will surely help the masses, myself inclusive in informing our travel decisions. Many Thanks!
There are add mixtures that can be added to the concrete to reduce the time for curing to less than a day. Explore the possibility.
But can transportation be allowed on the 28th from Lagos to ibadan if yes is there any other save root from Lagos to IB aside Lagos ibadan express way