In a swift move to safeguard the general public, the Federal Ministry of Works on Wednesday shut down the Apapa-bound lane of the beginning of Marine Bridge in Lagos.
The decision became necessary as the bridge have been damaged by vandals.
Olukorede Keisha, Assistant Director in charge of Federal Highways in Lagos State upon arrival and re-evaluation of the infrastructure, ordered a total shutdown of the portion.
Keisha told journalists that the service lane of the deck on the pile bridge was damaged and caved in due to the activities of vandals.
According to her an investigation revealed that 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.
She said because the steel components of the bridge had been removed and stolen by the vandals, it caved in.
She said a thorough assessment revealed an urgent need to close the bridge to avert risk to motorists and other road users.
“On inspection, we discovered that the place was set on fire to expose the reinforcement for them to cut it off and that is what they have done.
“And the concrete alone without the tension cannot cope with the pressure. It needs to be assisted with reinforcement. Once reinforcement is taken away, concrete alone cannot do the job, hence the collapse.
“For overriding public safety, there is need to shut it down immediately.
“We have looked at it, the contractor has critically assessed the situation. So, we are going back to the drawing board to evaluate it and look at the possible quick way to resolve it.
“But meanwhile, we are going to close this and divert traffic to alternative routes,” she said.
