Chukwuma Okparaocha reports that in spite of the over N1
billion expended on repairing the Third Mainland Bridge which was re-opened for
public use last week, driving on the bridge is still not a smooth experience.
BUILT in the 1980's by Julius
Berger and commissioned in 1990 by General Ibrahim Babangida, the Third
Mainland Bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to
the mainland, the other two being the Eko and Carter bridges.
Believed to be the longest bridge
in Africa, the Third Mainland Bridge, which measures about 11.8km in length,
starts from Oworonshoki which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi express way and
Lagos-Ibadan express way. It ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island,
though there is also a link midway through the bridge that leads to the Herbert
Macaulay Way, Yaba.
Recently, the contract sum of
N1,055,477,608.16 was awarded by the Federal Government, through the Ministry
of Works, for the rehabilitation of the bridge, which was mainly the repair of
eight expansion joints.
It is no longer news that the
project, which was contracted to construction giant, Messrs Borini Prono
Company of Nigeria Ltd, was declared complete and successful last week, while
the bridge itself was fully re-opened for public use.
Though grateful for taking the
initiative to work on the bridge promptly so as to guarantee safety of lives
and properties, many Lagosians are still disillusioned as to why such a huge
sum of money was spent on the repair of eight expansion joints only, when many
portions of the bridge are equally calling for government's attention.
Nigerian Tribune, which moved round
the entire bridge a couple of days after it was declared fully open for
traffic, noticed that many portions of the bridge still have their railings
either missing outright, or bent and twisted in some way.
A drive on the bridge would also
reveal that many streetlight poles, like the railings, are also either missing
or bent.
Perhaps more worrisome is the
journey on the bridge itself which is often interrupted by a series of
unhealthy sounds made as result of pockets of small potholes that have started
to develop in various portions of the bridge, although numerous patched
sections also contribute to the bumpy feeling a driver is bound to experience
on the bridge.
For quite a while, there has been
clamour from various quarters including the media calling the attention of the
Federal Government to the need to restore the missing railings which are too
many to count. There have also been calls for missing streetlight poles to be
replaced and faulty ones repaired. Sadly, however, such calls seem to have
fallen on deaf ears.
At the Iyana Oworo end of the
bridge, towards Lagos Island, a large number of the railings are gone, a
development which, it was gathered did not just occur. This unwholesome
development is a common phenomenon in various other sections of the bridge, as
it is almost impossible to drive for five minutes without one spotting a
section with at least a missing railing.
Needless to say, this development
predisposes motorists and even pedestrians to a certain level of risk of
falling into the lagoon, since railings, according to experts, are meant to
serve the primary role of protecting bridge users, just as they also act as additional
braces and source of support and strength to any bridge.
“The implication of this is that when railings
disappear, bridge users are exposed to a certain degree of risk, and such a
bridge itself loses a fraction of its support and strength. Railings are not
just there for aesthetic reasons, they are a form of support, therefore, lost
railings could be translated to mean deterioration has started to set in on
such a bridge,” a civil engineer in one of the nation's tertiary institutions,
who wouldn't want his identity revealed, disclosed in a telephone chat with
Nigerian Tribune.
Although, our correspondent, who
drove round the bridge in broad day light, could not verify the number of
streetlights that are not functioning, it was however clear that not less than
seven streetlight poles were either totally missing or badly bent.
Just like with the case of the
missing railings, it is almost impossible to drive for a few minutes without
running into pockets of potholes majority of which are in their 'infancy'
stage. Such a drive would easily create the sort of sensation one often
experiences when travelling on any of the average Nigerian roads, many of which
have been dubbed 'death traps.'
Similarly, scattered all over both
lanes of the Third Mainland Bridge are numerous patched portions, which one can
easily decipher to have been portions previously with developing potholes but
which have been patched with asphalt by road maintenance agencies.
All these, according to general
opinion boils down to the fact that it is not yet time for the government to
bring in the sails over the Third Mainland Bridge project, though the Minister
of Works, Mike Onolememen, gave a glimmer of hope in this regard, when he
remarked that the government would continue to carry on maintenance works on
the bridge.
“We will continue to carry out
routine maintenance of the bridge as well as other bridges across the country,”
he had declared.
“Based on the importance of this
facility to everyone, including non-Lagosians, I thought the Federal Government
would also place emphasis on providing streetlights on that bridge through
which thousands of people commute daily to the nation's economic nerve centre.
“Without functional streetlights
robbery attacks on that bridge at night might be enhanced. Any motorist whose
vehicle breaks down on the bridge stands a great chance and risk of being
robbed, maimed or even killed under the cover of darkness,” a Lagos resident,
who identified herself as Rukayat Badmus noted in a chat with Nigerian Tribune.