The Federal Ministry of Works closed the Apapa-bound lane at the beginning of the Marine Bridge in Lagos on Wednesday, for the protection of the general public.
A team of engineers from Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd utilized crash barriers to barricade the damaged piece of the deck of the piling bridge, according to a News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who visited the scene where the collapsed portion of the bridge.
A bridge without piers is a deck on a pile of concrete.
As the company and contractors working on the Eko and Marine Bridge projects accomplished that, NAN noted that a team of traffic control agencies was in charge of managing traffic around the detour.
Additionally helping the team was the police.
After arriving and reassessing the infrastructure, Mrs. Olukorede Keisha, the Assistant Director in charge of Federal Highways in Lagos State, issued an order for the complete shutdown of the section.
According to Keisha’s account to NAN, vandals’ actions caused the service lane of the deck on the pile bridge to become damaged and cave in.
According to her, the investigation showed that the vandals had lit a fire beneath the bridge in order to get iron rods and other steel parts there and cut them off.
She claimed that the bridge collapsed as a result of the vandals removing and stealing its steel components.
According to her, careful analysis showed that the bridge must be shut down immediately to prevent risk to motorists and other road users.
“After further investigation, we found that the building had been set on fire in order to expose the reinforcement so they could cut it off, which is exactly what they did.
And without the tension, the concrete cannot withstand the pressure. It needs reinforcement in addition to assistance. When reinforcement is removed, concrete by itself is unable to complete the task, leading to the collapse.
“It must be quickly shut down for the sake of public safety.
“We had a look at it, and the contractor gave it a thorough evaluation. So, we’re starting over to examine it and consider any potential expedient solutions.
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But in the meanwhile, she added, “We’re going to close this and redirect traffic to alternate routes.”
Keisha contacted the leader of the LASTMA and FRSC teams on an urgent traffic architecture for the closure and redirection of vehicles after arriving at the spot with a team of engineers at around 3:03 p.m.
She informed NAN that alternate routes for traffic would include Costain and the section of the Marine Bridge that leads to Lagos Island.
Keisha pleaded with motorists to exercise patience as the Federal Government was making every effort to fix the damaged area as soon as possible.
She assured them that repairs would start quickly and stated an urgent proposal was being drafted for rapid shipment to the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
She urged Lagos citizens to adopt ownership of the city’s roads and other public facilities in order to keep them safe from damage.
According to her, vandalism typically has a bad effect on all state residents, thus it is important to be vigilant to prevent miscreants from harming public property.
All public services must be used as if they were our own, she insisted.
She claimed that the road gave way on Tuesday night, and the contractor was dispatched to the scene right away to start an inquiry in search of an urgent fix.
According to NAN, the traffic control authorities permitted the evacuation of vehicles that were already on the Carter Bridge via the earlier-created detour.
They subsequently completely shut down the approach of the Marine Bridge’s Apapa-bound lane, which is close to Ijora Olopa and next to the Lagos State Water Corporation.
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