Senate, Ministry Differ on Safety of 3rd Mainland Bridge

The Senate, the upper legislative arm of the National Assembly has set up a committee to investigate a fresh alert on the imminent collapse of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

This is coming as the Federal Ministry of Works, in a report, entitled: “Federal Ministry of Works’ Report on the Third Mainland Bridge,” at the weekend, dismissed claims credited to Senator Gbenga Ashafa that the Third Mainland Bridge might collapse soon.

But officials of the ministry are part of the committee set up by the Senate at the weekend to investigate fresh alert on the possible collapse of the bridge.

The committee made of Senate committee on Works and officials of the Federal Ministry of Works, is expected to submit its report back to the house in two weeks.

Senator Ashafa, representing Lagos East Senatorial District, had last week, in a motion co-sponsored by 55 other Senators sought for an investigation to ascertain the true state of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

This followed a report by Professor JHT Kim, head of The Concrete Structural Engineering Laboratory, Yousei University, Seoul Korea, who came on research in December 2012 and conducted an underwater examination of the structures holding the bridge and reported that the damages to the structure was worse than what he had been briefed.

Ashafa, while commenting on the development at briefing in Lagos, yesterday, said the setting up of the committee was for an immediate independent investigation into the report with a view of averting calamity by finding out the true state of the bridge and make recommendations.

According to him: “A report produced by a company experienced in underwater surveys indicated that the underwater metal casing housing the concrete piles on which the bridge stands have rusted and this accounts for the vibration experienced in some portions of the bridge.

“This led to the closure of the bridge for repairs between 7th July and 30th October 2012 by the Federal Ministry of Works.”

He said Professor Kim’s report indicated that there was progressive steel deterioration in about 1,318 foundation piles and that there was extensive reinforcement bar deterioration in eight piles.

Ashafa lamented that the repair works done during the last quarter of 2012 by the Ministry of Works, were mere window dressing on the expansion joints of which reports had confirmed that some parts had since become disjointed.

The senator said: “The implication is that, the Third Mainland Bridge between Adeniji Adele, Adekunle and Oworonshoki ends could collapse and therefore require comprehensive works to be carried out on the foundation immediately.”

But the federal governemt has, again, declared that the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos is not going to collapse.

Aniete Effiong, dDirector of Highway Design (Bridges), Federal Ministry of Works, Aniete Effiong, said “the ministry has taken proactive steps, in line with its mandate to ensure that the Third Mainland Bridge, a very important infrastructure investment of government, is protected and kept in an acceptable service state.”

The bridge, according to Effiong, was 11.8 km long and was constructed in two sections.

The first section, from Lagos Island to Ebute Metta (Adeniji Adele Interchange–Adekunle Interchange), which has a box girder arrangement cantilevered from the pier to the mid-span, was completed in 1979 by PGH, a consortium made up of Messrs Borini Prono, Messrs Girola and Messrs Hiconi.

The second section from Ebute Metta to Oworonshoki, which was later completed in 1990 by Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, is a multi-span structure.

Effiong observed that the Third Mainland Bridge was a vital artery of the network of Federal Highways and commanded high patronage in Lagos Municipal Area, considering the importance of the city as the major commercial centre in the country.