Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The federal government has assured commuters and Lagos residents that the Third Mainland Bridge is safe to use and does not pose any structural danger to the bridge.
It also insisted that all the tests done preparatory to closure of the bridge to commence comprehensive maintenance works indicated that the integrity of the bridge was intact.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.
He added that underwater confirmatory tests conducted in March this year, preceding the repair works to be done on the bridge, were carried out on the piles to determine if there was further deterioration or not on the piles from that done in 2013.
Fashola stated: “The general public is hereby informed that the expansion joint shown in a Facebook video clip, is one of those slated for change during repairs to the Third Mainland Bridge, which will commence soon.
“It is still functioning and our engineers and consultants have advised that it does not pose any structural danger to the bridge and it is safe to use.
“Commuters and Lagos residents will recall that the Third Mainland Bridge was shut down for a three-day Investigative Maintenance in August 2018. Tests done on the expansion joints then – called static and dynamic load tests – were to check functionality. A number of expansion joints were identified for replacement then.
“However, all the tests done preparatory to closure of the bridge to commence comprehensive maintenance works indicate that the integrity of the bridge is intact.
“Therefore the Third Mainland Bridge is safe for use, and people should desist from spreading or sharing false information about the bridge on social media platforms”, he said.
The minister stressed that the expansion joints to be replaced are part of a regular bridge maintenance programme that has been neglected for decades, which the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is now addressing frontally on many bridges nationwide.
Fashola explained that such maintenance works include resurfacing of the bridge, along with several others, which this administration is also undertaking as the bridge users would attest to a better driving surface.
