A section of Third Mainland Bridge will be completely closed for three days for repair works.

The Federal Government announced this in a statement on Wednesday by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Joshua Popoola.

The statement noted that the total closure of the section of the bridge will start from Friday midnight.

He explained that the repair works on the bridge had reached a stage where there should not be any form of movement or vibration on the bridge for concrete casting.

Part of the statement read, “The first total closure of the section of the bridge between Adekunle and Adeniji Adele will be from midnight of Friday, 9th October 2020 to midnight of Sunday, 11th October 2020 to allow the contractor to complete the first stage of casting works.

“The contractor, Messrs Borini Prono & Co. (Nig.) Ltd is nearing completion of works on the closed section of Third Mainland Bridge and requires the total closure of both bounds of the bridge between Adeniji Adele and Adekunle (i.e. in addition to the closed bound of the bridge, the other bound from Adekunle to Adeniji Adele will also be closed) to complete work.

“The total closure of this section of the bridge is to ensure that there is no vibration on the bridge during the casting in-place of the newly installed expansion joints. This is to allow for the setting of the special concrete, which allows the concrete to achieve its required compressive strength.

“Due to the number of expansion joints to be cast on the closed section of the bridge and the traffic situation in Lagos State, especially during the weekdays; the casting of the expansion joints will be in two stages to ensure that the total closure is only at the weekends when there is less traffic plying the route.”

Popoola added that the second total closure of the section of the bridge between Adekunle and Adeniji Adele would be communicated at a later date.

“The section of the bridge between Adekunle and Iyana–Oworo will still remain open, and traffic can move from Ebute-Metta/ Adekunle to Iyana–Oworo, and vice–versa,” he added.

The Third Mainland Bridge was partially shut on July 24 for another round of rehabilitation works expected to last for six months.

The FG had earlier announced that the construction would be divided into two phases of three months on each carriageway, starting with the Oworonsoki bound carriageway.

By Sodiq Oyeleke