The contractor rehabilitating the Long
Bridge at the Lagos end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Julius Berger
Nigeria Plc, has promised to complete the task before the end of this
month, the Federal Government has said.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola |
It also stated that work on other
“narrow lanes” in the section being handled by Julius Berger would be
spread over the next four months for final delivery by the middle of
December.
He noted that the contractor had
explained that the rehabilitation work on the Long Bridge required the
complete scraping and replacement of the asphalt surface, as well as the
replacement of the expansion joints, a development that necessitated
the partial restrictions on the bridge.
While giving an insight into its tight
work schedule on the bridge, Julius Berger, according to the statement,
said the two main lanes currently under construction would be completed
by the end of August.
Julius Berger resumed work on the
expressway recently, after vacating the site for over 12 months due to
non-payment for work done by the previous administration.
After the settlement of the outstanding
bills by the Federal Government, the contractor began full
re-mobilisation procedure, which, according to the government, is
currently being concluded with full action scheduled to commence from
this week.
The government said in the statement,
“However, even while the full re-mobilisation was ongoing, the
contractor began the rehabilitation of the Long Bridge section of the
road by scraping off the asphaltic surfacing (milling), removing the
expansion joints and replacing same with new ones, and preparing the
bridge for new asphalt.
“In order to achieve this, one half of
the Lagos-bound section of the bridge was blocked to traffic with the
use of median crash barriers, which allows for only two normal vehicles
to pass at the same time.
“However, as some articulated vehicles
either move slowly or break down, traffic backlog develops, which
eventually result in chaotic traffic situation when some motorists
attempt to overtake even within the narrow space.”
While appealing for patience, and
orderliness on the part of motorists, Fashola urged road users to bear
with the Federal Government and the contractors as the current temporary
discomfort would eventually lead to a safer and smoother motoring
experience when the reconstruction work was completed.
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