By LYDIA CHIGOZIE-NGWAKWE

A half of the Iddo Bridge in Lagos State will be demolished next week in preparation for rebuilding.

The Regional Manager of Julius Berger Nigeria, Mr Thomas Christl, announced this on Sunday during an inspection tour of the bridge by the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi.

“Three spans of the existing Iddo Bridge are heavily damaged and need to be replaced.

“What we are doing at the moment is that we are separating the two lanes – the two directions – and next week, we will shift the traffic on one direction and one half of the bridge will be demolished and rebuilt.

“When this is done, by end of March, most likely, we will shift the traffic on the new side of the bridge and demolish this side of the bridge and rebuild this bridge,” the manager said.

He said that the company was also constructing the bridge’s underpass.

“We have already started with the drainage works, the outfall to the lagoon is already done.

“After the drainage works, we will remove the soil and lower the road level so that we have a higher clearance for the bridge so that no trucks can crash into the bridge anymore which was a main reason for the damages on the existing one.”

Responding, Umahi noted that Iddo Bridge suffered a fire outbreak because of illegal occupants.

He said that the fire damaged three spans on both carriageways.

“Six spans are affected. What we have done is to re-asphalt one of the carriageways so that we drive that traffic totally over there and then remove the three spans of one carriageway.

“Then we can divert the traffic back and demolish the second carriageway,” he said.

Umahi said that the work, to cost N15 billion, would be expected to end in June.

“Part of the problem is that the headroom is about 4.5 metres high but the minimum should be 5.6 metres high; so, we are trying to achieve that minimum headroom.”

He said that the contractor had done a significant part of the headroom and demolished the first three spans of the first carriageway.

“They have also built a bypass route over there. Julius Berger is doing well. I hope they don’t delay the job.

“I am directing the engineer to monitor them and report back to us to ensure that this is completed as scheduled – June,” he said.

The minister gave the assurance that, at end of the repair, the Federal Government would install a close circuit television camera to monitor activities under the bridge and on its top, just like what the government did on Third Mainland Bridge. (NAN)

•PHOTO: Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, and Regional Manager of Julius Berger Nigeria, Thomas Christl, inspecting Iddo Bridge, Lagos, on Sunday.

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