In August 2020, Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola said the Federal Government was constructing, repairing and rehabilitating a total of 40 major bridges across the country. The minister stated this while inspecting the Loko-Oweto bridge in Benue State. In this special report, our correspondents examine the progress of work on some of these bridges across the country.
Lagos
The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos was partially shut down in July 24 for rehabilitation work. It was expected to last for six months.
The rehabilitation started with the Oworonsoki-bound carriageway while traffic was partially diverted on a stretch of 3.5km, where work is ongoing, between Adeniji-Adele Ramp and Ebute-Meta.
Between October 9 and 11, the Federal Government totally closed the section between Adekunle and Adeniji-Adele to allow the contractor complete the first stage of casting works.
According to the federal controller of works in Lagos, Joshua Popoola, an engineer, the closure was to allow the contractor, Messrs Borini Prono & Co (Nig) Ltd complete works on the closed section of the bridge.
It was learnt that the contractor will soon move to the other side of the bridge, which is the Adeniji-Adele carriageway.
Popoola said the section between Adekunle and Iyana-Oworo would still remain open, and traffic could move from Ebute-Metta/Adekunle to Iyana-Oworo and vice versa.
Benue
In Benue State, there are three bridges currently undergoing repairs by the Federal Government. They include Loko-Oweto bridge, Makurdi bridge and Katsina-Ala bridge, located in the three senatorial district of the state.
Our correspondent reports that the level of work on the ongoing repair of bridges has reached an appreciable height. The Oweto-Loko bridge in Agatu Local Government Area is almost ready for commissioning.
The project supervisor of Makurdi bridge, Kene Onuorah, an engineer, of the Federal Ministry of Works, said in an interview that it was 67 per cent completed.
“The work we are doing here involves a lot of things. The time people were not seeing us on top of the bridge, we were under the bridge doing under water works and breakers in the yard, so work has been going on simultaneously,” he said.
Commenting on why work was dragging a bit longer on the second part of the road since after finishing the first lane in May this year, the supervisor explained, “We noticed some other things not captured in the scope of project we have to take care of.
What we are doing now is the walkway slabs. You can see that all slabs have been damaged. Another thing wasting our time, which we have got approval from the Jos Electricity Distribution (JED) company, is for them to give us power outage for 60 days. We cannot work when we have major high tension passing through the bridge.”
Onuorah said they were working hard to meet the October target, adding that work on the Kastina-Ala bridge was simultaneously going on with that of Makurdi.
Motorists plying the Oweto bridge described the rehabilitation as the best thing that has happened to travellers plying Abuja and eastern states in a long time as the development would mean a shortcut to their destinations.
The chairman of Agatu Local Government Area, Adoyi Sule, said the importance of the Loko-Oweto bridge could not be overemphasized, adding that his people have suffered decades of infrastructural deficit.
Osun
The bridge on the Ifon/Ilobu road on Ojutu river has reached an appreciable level and near completion.
Our correspondent who visited Ilobu on Friday saw construction workers on the bridge.
The workers said they could not speak on the status of the bridge, but one of them said it would be completed soon if the construction company received money from the Federal Government.
The existing colonial bridge could only take one vehicle at a time and drivers were seen queuing to allow incoming vehicles pass before they could move to the bridge.
The commissioner for works in the state, Mr Remi Omowaiye, said only the Federal Ministry of Works could supply the details about the project.
Rivers
The flag-off of the long-awaited Bonny-Bodo road and bridges project was performed by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, October 12, 2017.
For over 40 years, successive governments made mere political promises on access road to Bonny Island, a place that contributes meaningfully to the economy of Nigeria.
Findings by our correspondent revealed that the three bridges on the road are still undergoing construction.
A resident of Bonny, Godswill Jumbo, told Daily Trust Saturday that compensations were paid before demolition was carried out to give way for the construction work.
The federal controller of works in Rivers State had told a visiting team of the Federal Ministry of Works that they were having challenges in constructing the bridges in the difficult swampy terrain.
Kano
Construction and rehabilitation works by the Federal Government on some bridges in Kano are at various stages, with some ongoing for almost four years without completion.
During a visit to some of the bridges, Daily Trust Saturday observed different levels of work. It was learnt that one of the bridges only got attention of government 8 years ago.
At Tamburawa bridge, located in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, work is yet to be completed. This is one of the most economically viable bridges in the state as it links Kano to Kaduna State, which serves as route to southwestern and eastern states of the federation. Work has, however, reached an advanced stage but not completed.
The rehabilitation work was awarded at the cost of N1.89billion. Although the contract was awarded four years ago and a lot has been covered, some aspects have to do with erosion protection are yet to be completed. And that appears to be a major threat to its existence.
For many years, those who knew the deplorable condition of Tamburawa bridge, which is one of the many bridges along the Kano-Kaduna expressway, were apprehensive plying the road, but they were left with no option than to continue doing so.
The bridge, which was built in 1986, has been subjected to a series of sand excavation activities, bringing it to the verge of collapse. This has been the major concern to the Tamburawa community and millions of motorists plying the road.
Before the commencement of the repair, the bridge had degenerated dangerously.
Work commenced in 2016 and was expected to be completed in May 2018, but till date, that has not been achieved.
A supervising engineer on the site told Daily Trust Saturday on the condition of anonymity that the rains had caused the delay in completing the work.
Our correspondent observed that Falali bridge in Takai Local Government Area has been completed and already serving its purpose, even though it has not been officially commissioned.
Although the work lingered for almost 8 years before completion, locals, especially those whose lands were encroached on, are still pained that they have not been compensated.
Yakubu Isah said, “Before the bridge was constructed, we experienced a lot of challenges because we had to pass through the water to our farms and neighbouring villages. Many lives were lost as a result of that. I remember the time when one man died in the water while passing with his motorcycle. His corpse was found in another village.
Our farmlands were used and they are yet to pay compensation. But they came here, took our names and pictures and we are hopeful that they would pay.’’
For Wudil bridge in Wudil Local Government Area of the state, locals said the last time it was repaired was eight years ago. They said the bridge always shook whenever vehicles passed through it.
When our correspondent visited the bridge, it was observed that most of its side protecting iron barriers were vandalised, making it risky for motorists.
Cross River
A structural engineer, Bishop Ndoma Nyambi, has called on the contractors and other experts handling the ongoing construction of the new Ikom bridge to improve on their approach.
He advised that the flood line of the bridge, which is in the central part of Cross River State, be raised to conform with the hydrologic requirements of the area.
In 2018, Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola announced that the Federal Executive Council had approved the sum of N8.9b for the construction of the bridge.
So far, work on the bridge has advanced to over 65 per cent completion. The pace of work was, however, slowed down due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bridge was first constructed after the Nigerian Civil War when Brigadier Udoaka Jacob Esuene was military governor of the then South-Eastern State.
Zamfara
In Zamfara State, the Federal Government is constructing two major bridges along Gusau-Sokoto road, with a view to ending road carnages and insecurity plaguing the routes.
Sources familiar with the projects said the contract was awarded at the cost of N986 million.
The source further said streetlights would be put in place because kidnappers were using the opportunity of the bad terrain to waylay unsuspecting travellers.
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