The Federal Ministry of Works has shut down the Apapa-bound lane of the Marine Bridge in Lagos, following damage caused by vandals to the bridge. This was done in the interest of public safety. The Assistant Director in charge of Federal Highways in Lagos State, Mrs Olukorede Keisha, upon re-evaluation of the infrastructure, ordered the shutdown of the portion.
Upon arriving at the scene with a team of engineers, Keisha engaged the head of the LASTMA and FRSC teams on urgent traffic architecture for the closure and diversion of vehicles. Traffic will be diverted through Costain and the Lagos Island-bound portion of the Marine Bridge as alternative routes.
Keisha said that the service lane of the deck on the pile bridge was damaged and caved in due to the activities of vandals. The vandals had set a fire underneath the bridge to gain access to iron rods and other steel components under the bridge to be able to cut them off. The investigation revealed that because the steel components of the bridge had been removed and stolen by the vandals, it caved in.
She explained that a thorough assessment revealed the need to close the bridge immediately, to avert risk to motorists and other road users. Keisha appealed to Lagos residents to take ownership of roads and other public infrastructure to protect them against vandalism.
The traffic regulatory agencies, working in conjunction with engineers from Buildwell Plants and Equipment Industries Ltd, used crash barriers to barricade the damaged portion of the deck on the pile bridge. While they did that, a combined team of traffic regulatory agencies managed traffic around the diversion, with support from the police.
An urgent proposal is being prepared for immediate dispatch to the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, to quickly begin repairs. Keisha assured road users that the repairs would begin almost immediately.
The hardship caused by the activities of vandals usually impacts negatively on all residents of the state, hence the need for vigilance to stop miscreants from damaging public infrastructure. “We have to take all public utilities as if it is ours,” she said.
It is essential for Lagos residents to cooperate with traffic regulatory agencies during this period of diversions to ensure that alternative routes are not massively congested.
