The Federal Controller of Work in Lagos, Mr Kayode Popoola, on Wednesday said that 10 per cent work had been done in the ongoing rehabilitation of the Marine Beach Bridge located in Apapa.
Popoola, during inspection of the bridge, said that the contractor on the project, Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd., mobilised to site in January but had to leave because of COVID-19 outbreak.
He said that with the ease of the lockdown, the contractor returned to site in May to begin major rehabilitation works after a partial closure of the bridge.
The controller said that the project was awarded at the contract sum of three billion, one hundred and fifty five million Naira.
“We are doing replacement of 72 numbers of expansion joints and the rubbers; we are carrying out replacement of the bearings of the piers, carrying out skin repairs of the bearing, jacketing, scridding and replacement of the pavement.
“The contractor moved to site in January and because of COVID-19, they left and came back in May. Right now, they have achieved about 10 per cent completion.
“They have done some of the skin repairs of the piers underneath the bridge. The completion date of this project is April 2021,’’ he said.
Popoola said that because work began on the inbound Apapa lane, it was partially closed to traffic with movement diverted.
“What we have done here is to divide the outward lane into two to take traffic, that is why we call this partial closure so that vehicles going in and out of Apapa can use a lane each,’’ he said.
He said that the repairs would be done in phases of 200 metres per time, adding that the first section being worked upon was about 200 metres.
Popoola appealed for understanding of road users during the construction to ensure speedy completion of repair works on the bridge.
Mr Kaadi Ghassan of Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd., the project contractor said that repair works were going on simultaneously both beneath and on the bridge surface.
Ghassan said that emphasis was on speedy completion on both ends to return the bridge to safety for motorists to remove hardship.
“When we finish work on the top here, we will continue under the bridge,’’ he said.
