TheCable

Ijora-Apapa bridge has been shut down indefinitely to allow for detailed work on a part that is collapsing and to “save lives”.

Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, said this on Sunday at a consultative meeting at Apapa Area “B” police command.

He said since repair of the bridge was not captured in the 2016 budget, most of the work on the bridge, and other bridges across the country, will begin in 2017.

Fashola said the decision to shut the bridge was inevitable even though it was “sobering” as the 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,” he said.

“There are many other bridges across the country that are begging for attention, maintenance and repairs.”

Fashola said the bridge had not been properly maintained yet it continued to take axle loads exceeding its capacity, due to the busy nature of the terrain.

“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,” he said.

“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.”