2nd Niger bridge set to bridge completion gap

Despite challenges such as the rising volume of water on the Onitsha side of the River Niger and the recent agitations from 10 host communities on both

Delta and Anambra sides, work is ongoing on the second Niger bridge project.

The bridge, which is said to be the biggest road project of the Federal Government in Nigeria and one of the biggest in Africa, is designed to ease traffic gridlock at the first bridge (Head Bridge) and Upper-Iweka areas of Onitsha, especially for those going to Enugu, Obosi, Owerri, Aba and Port Harcourt.

The contract for this project was initially awarded under a public-private partnership in 2010, but in September 2019, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sum of N200.176 billion for the construction of link roads to the bridge.

When Daily Trust Saturday visited the project sites last week, it was observed that construction was ongoing. Our correspondent was informed that over 1,000 workers of various categories were engaged to do the work.

Earth-moving machines of different sizes, pair-loaders and heavy-duty trucks were seen loading and off-loading concrete, sharp sands, gravel, steel-rods etc. And the atmosphere was visibly charged with deafening noise and vibrations from machines on various project sites.

A huge machine, which was positioned inside the Onitsha side of River Niger, was seen dredging volumes of snow-white sharp sand, which formed heaps, stretching from the Okoamako-Delta side across the Onitsha, Atani side and running towards Obosi, where the entire road project terminates.

Artisans such as welders, masons, carpenters and all kinds of labourers were seen slugging it out under the scorching sun as their supervisors kept watchful eyes on them.

A popular construction company in Nigeria, Julius Berger Plc, occupies an expansive compound near the Onitsha harbour, where heaps of rods of all sizes and other heavy-duty metals were seen.

“The rods are locally sourced and they are of high quality. Julius Berger can’t accept any substandard material and the Federal Ministry of Works can’t afford to provide any material below standard,” the project supervisor and one of the engineers from the ministry, Oluwaseyi Martins said.

Giving a breakdown of the project, he said, “The entire length of the project, which I may call phase one, is 11.9 kilometres. Out of this, 1.6km is the main bridge; then you have the approach roads on either side of the bridge.

“On the Delta Stateside, the length of the approach road is 3.3kms; then on the Onitsha, Anambra side, the length of the approach road is 7kms.

“Apart from the main bridge, we have three secondary bridges. One is at Okoamako village in Delta State. There is another secondary bridge across the Atani road on the Anambra section. Then there is the third secondary bridge, which is a full-clover-leaf inter-change at Obosi.”

Martins further said the main bridge had “three navigational channels, through which ships would pass to berth at the Onitsha habour. These three openings, located on the Anambra side of the bridge, are 150 metres.”

Speaking on the road project, Martins said, “The road itself is a fully divided highway of six lanes – three lanes on either direction. We are going to have a toll station at the Delta section of the bridge. People need to pay tolls because the nature of funding for the project is such that the money would be recovered.”

It would be recalled that recently, host communities from both Anambra and

Delta states halted activities on the project, protesting what they regarded as a failure on Julius Berger’s part to honour the agreement reached by both parties.

But Martins said such challenges would not affect the deadline for the completion of the project as it had been resolved amicably. He added that a memorandum of understanding had been signed by all the parties concerned.

“Right now, the project is slightly above 30per cent completion, so there is the possibility of meeting the deadline. The expected completion date is February 28, 2022. The present pace of work is impressive, so the completion date is achievable,” he said.

According to him, there was a joint intervention involving the communities, local governments, states, the Federal Government and contractors. “Everything is sorted out and work is going on smoothly. There are no more complaints.

“I don’t think it will affect our completion period. The strike was due to misunderstanding and misconception, which have been addressed. Shortly after that, the host communities and the Federal Ministry of Works and the contractor, Julius Berger, came up with a memorandum of understanding, which has been signed by all the parties concerned.

“The relationship with the host communities and the contractor has been cordial. There hasn’t been any other strike or challenges from them since then.

“Before the strike, there were a lot of areas the contractor was even ahead of schedule, so I don’t think the expected completion date would be affected much,” he further said.

On the challenges they have faced since the commencement of work, the project supervisor said, “One of the major challenges we had in time past was the volume of water in the river when we were doing foundation work at Head Bridge, specifically the pilling works and all that. There were two axes we had to leave uncompleted because of the high volume of water. The whole place was completely submerged.

But despite the rising water level, work continued on the other axis where we had done appreciable work up to superstructure level. However, those that were submerged had to wait for the level of water to subside.

“As we speak, work is going on in those two axes to ensure that we complete all the foundation works there and take them to superstructure level before the rainy season. By then, we would have gone above the water level at those two axes, especially 250 and 270,” he said.

Martins explained that funding had not been a challenge as it is done by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). He noted that as one of the Presidential Infrastructure Development projects, it is enjoying unhindered access to funding.”

Asked about the amount of money paid as compensation for the hundreds of structures that were demolished from Onitsha to Obosi as a result of the project, Martins said, “I can’t give an exact number of buildings or structures that were affected because the ministry has an estate valuer that handled compensation matters. These were done in phases because an enumeration was carried out and compensations paid.

“Most of the claimants have been paid. For the few that are outstanding, approval has been granted for the payment of the supplementary compensation. In a nutshell, we don’t have problems regarding compensation.”

Also asked about the possible advantages of the bridge, he said, “When the project is completed, the traffic situation being experienced on Onitsha roads will be eliminated. This is because feasibility studies showed that majority of commuters here usually go to other parts of the South-East and South-South en route Onitsha.

“When the second Niger bridge and the approach roads are completed, travellers will not have any need to pass through the old bridge. By so doing, they will avoid all the traffic bottlenecks.

“It will also act as a boost to socio-economic activities on both sides of the river. There will be ease of transportation. It will be one of the best dividends of democracy to the people when completed.”