The Federal Government has said that it would shut the Ijora section of Eko Bride from midnight as part of its effort to fix a major expansion joint undergoing rehabilitation.
This follows the completion of the construction works on Costain section of the bridge with the entire project at 35% completion.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this disclosure was made by the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, on Friday, July 2, 2021, during an inspection of the bridge.
He said that construction works on the Costain section of the bridge had been completed, while the entire project was 35 per cent complete.
Popoola said that it was time to continue work on a major expansion joint where traffic coming from Apongbon and the one from Ijora merged around Iponri section on the Eko Bridge.
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What the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos is saying
Poopola said that in order to remove and replace the expansion joint where traffic merged, the Ijora ramp of the bridge must be shut adding that the construction work was moving on fast because of favourable weather and as such, the project would be delivered ahead of the August 3 scheduled deadline.
The Controller said, “What we are doing is still the same 10 weeks programme of rehabilitation of Eko Bridge. Vehicles that are coming from Ijora end and the ones coming from Apongbon, the two bridges merge at a point.
“At that point where they merge, all the vehicles will now use one lane, so, that is the lane where we want to now change the expansion joint. We were working on Apongbon, Iponri, Alaka-bound lane. Now, we want to work on the same lane which is between Costain and Alaka.
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“Where we are now is Iponri, but all the vehicles that are coming from Ijora, they meet at a point with the vehicles coming from Apongbon, so, the expansion joint is what we want to now replace. As a result of that, the two bridges will now be affected,” he said.
Popoola said vehicles coming from both Ijora and Apongbon could use the Costain ramp as an alternative route to go through Breweries to Abebe Village, Eric Moore to either link Surulere, Funsho Williams Avenue, Stadium or Ikorodu Road.
He said, “The point where we want to work now connects the two bridges together. For us to be able to remove the expansion joint, we have to close the two sides of the bridges, otherwise, we will not be able to remove and replace the expansion joint. We plan to close the Ijora ramp this night.’’
He expressed his reservations against the activities of commercial motorcycle operators who usually came in large numbers at night to remove barricades around the construction zones.
Popoola said that the motorcycle operators popularly referred to as Okada riders usually carried out their actions whenever they noticed the Police patrol was not within the area.
He warned the riders to desist from the act as any of them caught would be apprehended and prosecuted.
He said that 4 bearings had been replaced and the fourth expansion joint was in the process of being removed for replacement.
The controller said work was ongoing under the bridge deck, which was sitting on reinforcements on jerks.
What you should know
It can be recalled that a few weeks ago, the Lagos State Government had announced the partial closure of Eko Bridge from Costain to Alaka in-bound National Stadium for a period of 10 weeks, for emergency repairs by the Federal Government from June 4, 2021.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said that the repair was necessary to complete the rehabilitation works at the opposite side of the bridge earlier embarked upon by the Federal Government, hence the need for a notice of diversion routes
