TheCable

The federal government has commenced repair works on the defective Apapa-Ijora bridge, in Lagos.

Hakeem Bello, media adviser to Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, intimated TheCable of the development on Saturday.

The bridge was recently shut down indefinitely so as to carry out repairs on a collapsing part of the structure.

Following its closure, the minister had disclosed that the ever-busy bridge had not been properly maintained since it was built 40 years ago.

“It is a sobering experience that the federal government is now dealing with many years of neglect and abuse of the bridge by traders. There are many other bridges across the country that are begging for attention, maintenance and repairs.”

“The bridge has really been battered and abused by us, and as a result, we are having the contractor now to do a total evaluation of what is seen and unseen, so that we can restore the bridge to something close to its original form by the time we finish.

“We will change the expansion joints, mill the surface, replace the surface and also replace some of the reinforcements and strengthen them. We cannot reach a conclusion until we see all the engineering requirements, designs and costs”, Fashola had said.

The minister had also noted that repair of the bridge was not captured in the 2016 budget, hence work would begin in 2017.

Fashola’s aide, who released photos of ongoing repair works, however, failed to disclose reasons for the expedited action.