The Federal Government has announced its plan to completely close a section of the Third Mainland Bridge for repairs within two days.

This was announced yesterday in a statement by the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Joshua Popoola.

The total closure of the section between Adekunle and Adeniji Adele will take place from midnight of Friday, October 9 to midnight of Sunday, October 11 to allow the contractor complete the first stage of casting works.

The statement explained that the contractor currently carrying out repairs on the bridge, 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 to complete the 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 setting of the special concrete, which allows the concrete to achieve its required compressive strength,” the statement read in part.

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

The second total closure of the section of the bridge would be communicated at a later date. The section between Adekunle and Iyana-Oworo would still remain open, and traffic could move from Ebute-Metta/Adekunle to Iyana-Oworo and vice versa.

Regretting the inconveniences that the closure would cause, the controller said traffic management personnel would be in place on all the alternative routes to help with traffic flow.

Recall that the Third Mainland Bridge was partially shut on July 24 for another round of rehabilitation works. The repair is expected to last six months with the construction divided into two phases of three months on each carriageway, starting with the Oworonsoki-bound carriageway.

Traffic was partially diverted on a stretch of 3.5km where construction is ongoing between Adeniji Adeniji Ramp and Ebute-Meta, while different time belts were allotted for traffic diversions on the bridge. The 11.8km bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.