By ABAH SUNDAY, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has commenced the construction of the 700 kilometres (km) Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway, spanning 9 states with two spurs leading to some Northern states.
Minister of Works Sen. Nweze David Umahi officially handed over the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47kms concrete pavement dual carriageway, to the contractor, according to a statement signed by his media aide,
Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji.
The Minister who was in company with the Federal Ministry of Works’ Controller in charge of Lagos State, Engr (Mrs) O. I. Kesha, stressed tht there was need for all contractors handling federal government road projects to deliver within stipulated time as the government would not allow any variation arising from delays or slow pace of work once mobilisation had been done.
Commending the contractor, Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd, for starting work immediately after the contract was awarded, the Minister said, “They have completed some filling of 1.3 kilometres from the day the project was awarded to them.
“It shows the speed they are going to deploy to this project. Within a couple of weeks, we awarded the project to them, they mobilised a lot of dredging equipment, and you can see that they have recovered 1.3 kilometer of section one of the phase”
The Minister who also visited project sites at the Queen’s Drive Ikoyi, the Third Mainland bridge top deck, the under water, as well as the Eddo, Eko, and Carter bridges expressed the determination of the federal government to carry out a comprehensive rehabilitation of the bridges which he said are critical links between the Mainland and the Island of Lagos – the economic hub of the country.
“These repairs are expected to cover not only the top of the bridge, but also the under bridge works.
“At the Third Mainland bridge, we have three or four critical elements to be rehabilitated. The first one is the deck, and the deck is about 11 kilometres by two. That is dual carriageway, including the ramps, and it has been done by CCECC.
“They have done very beautiful jobs, but we have not concluded. Before the end of March, we’ll be concluding the asphalt milling and the reasphalting,” he said.
Explaining further, the Minister said, “But that is not all our commitment there. We are installing the guardrails, we are replacing the lights with solar light, we are going to put some decorative lights too, and then we are going to put CCTV camera both on top and under the bridge to check insecurity and illegal mining of sand, which is causing scouring on the piles and the pipe bits.
“The second job is that some sections of the slab are deflected, and so what we have done is to get an expert to understudy the level of deflection. That is, the tendons of the slab that deflected.
“And so we are going to cut open the slabs, enter and then look at it, scoop it, and then reinstate the tendons of the slab. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s been done at a Eko bridge by Buildwell. So this one is not a threat to us at all.”
He commended what Julius Berger Nigeria Ltd is doing already, which is restoration of deteriorated piers and Pier caps including the cover of piers and pier caps themselves, and said the piles which he also inspected were the most critical of the works to be done.
Earlier in their respective remarks, the State Controller, and the representatives of Hitech Construction Nigeria Ltd, Julius Bergger Nigeria Ltd, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd, and Buildwell Nigeria Ltd assured the Minister that they would continue to work in line with the spirit of excellence, which the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is know for.