Minister of Works, Egnr. David Umahi, has condemned the incessant tampering leading to the damage of underwater piers and pile caps of the Lagos’ bridges by people despite warnings.
The bridges include the Third Mainland Bridge, Carter Bridge, Eko bridge, Iddo Bridge and Independence Bridge.
The minister said that the continued tampering of the bridges’ underwater piers and pile caps remained a big threat to the structural integrity of the facilities.
During the inspection tour of the ongoing underwater work of the bridges in Lagos, the minister made particular reference to the most recent case of a ship that capsized at Eko Bridge’s waterway, hit and destroyed the underwater pier and pile cap of the bridge, thereby causing a big threat to the structure of the bridge.
He also made mention of unlawful dredging going on in the waterways of third Mainland bridge where the dredger destroyed the pile cap of the bridge.
“We have inspected the Third Mainland Bridge and Carter Bridge handled by Julius Berger to know what is happening below the deck, and we are satisfied with the work they’re doing. I can say that the work on the third Mainland Bridge is about 50 percent completed and that of Carter Bridge is about 70 percent completed.
We didn’t visit Iddo Bridge because it’s a small work, and it’s not as dangerous as what is happening under the deck of Third Mainland Bridge and Carter Bridge.
“Part of Julius Berger’s work is to reinstate the deflected slab in the Third Mainland bridge. We don’t have deflection in Carter bridge and this is the reason why we closed the Third Mainland bridge against big trucks.
“The contractors are insisting that they have a new design to tackle that because it’s a very delicate work and they want our designers to go with them to Germany and look at the new design and then give approval, and so I’ve approved for that to happen.”
Underscoring the importance of the underwater elements to the substructure of a bridge, the minister said: “The pile caps are like the legs to human beings. What the pile cap and the pies are to the bridges are what the legs are to human beings. So imagine a vehicle hitting one of your legs.”
Narrating what happened during his inspection to the bridge, he said: “And so I immediately directed divers to be deployed, and I went to the smaller boat to monitor the level of damages below the water, occasioned by this dredger that hit the pile. And I was very shocked. A whole one pile was totally removed. And what is holding that particular section is only the rods. So, some of the rods are removed. So it’s like a whole leg of somebody is cut off.”
He appealed to the governor of Lagos State to consider the need to shut down the waterways between the Carter Bridge and Eko Bridge because of the risk occasioned by the impact of the capsized to underwater elements.
“Let me appeal to the Governor of Lagos State to please enforce that the waterways between Carter Bridge and the Eko Bridge be closed because the dredger that hit the pile caps and the piles tumbled and they got sunk. So what is safe is for that section of the waterways to be closed down. And so I’m alerting all the authorities of the Navy, the Lagos State government, they have always been very proactive. This section of the waterway needs to be closed down immediately.”
He emphasized the danger of dredging sand along the bridge areas.
He said, “The dredging of sand along seas and rivers is very dangerous because all the piles in Lagos State were executed through skinfriction, which means that it is the sand that is holding the piles and holding the bridge. At the Third Mainland Bridge, we have installed a camera to observe what is going on top and also under the bridge. And so we’re going to be looking at that for the bridges in Lagos even though it’s quite a lot of cost.
Speaking during the inspection of the Section I of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project by Hitech Construction Company Ltd, he said the President’s bold decision to invest on infrastructure at this time of economic challenges, has shown his practical political will to transform economic limitations to possibilities.
The minister highlighted the great investment and tourism opportunities that would be generated upon the completion of sections of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
He said: “And, of course, we also have foreign investment in this, because 70% of this project is dollar-based, on loan as low as 2.5% single-digit interest. And so, what is the problem if I can recover this money in 10 years?. We’re going to have a relief station along the corridor where we will have supermarkets, small clinic, towing vans, parking lots for cars and trucks and so on and so forth.
“We are going to have trees all through the route and, of course, solar lights and CCTV cameras. So, it’s going to be a sight to behold. I want Nigerians to be very clear that the President is replicating what you see in the Western world.”
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