By ABAH SUNDAY, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) says it has spotted fault in the design of the Second Niger Bridge and has agreed on a new design with the contractor.
Minister of Works, Sen. Nweze David Umahi disclosed this during his inspection visit to the rehabilitation of Enugu- Port Harcourt dual carriageway section IV (Aba-Port Harcourt) handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Ltd on Sunday, a statement issued by the Minister’s media aide on Monday said.
He said, “And just only two days back, with these leaders, we went to Asaba to look at the design of the bypass of the second Niger bridge, and we went to Onitsha. And by that singular movement, we saw that the design was defective and we agreed on a new kind of design. That was how we saved the country over N300 billion.
Accompanied by a member of the Senate Committee on Works and the Deputy Chief Whip of the 10th Senate, as well as other leaders across political divide of the South-East, the Minister said noted that some of the ideals in the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope mantra being promoted by his ministry includes design and cost effectiveness, speed, and standard of job delivery as well as innovations that would guarantee and durability of road infrastructure in Nigeria.
He enjoined contractors to ensure that the roads they are working are made passable for commuters during the rainy season.
The Minister who also visited the Upgrading of the 15km section of the East-West road section III (Port Harcourt – Eleme Junction to Onne Junction in Rivers State) handled by RCC; the rehabilitation of Enugu- Port Harcourt Expressway Section 3, Enugu- Lokpanta handled by CGC; and the rehabilitation work at the collapsed bridge site at the New Artisan Bridge near NNPC mega fillings station Enugu Capital City, Enugu State expressed satisfaction with the job being done but charged the contractors to step up their pace ahead of the rainy season.
Of the project along Eleme refinery road he said, ” We are upgrading the 15km road between Eleme flyover to Onne junction. We are starting with excavation to fill all the failed sections to make them stable. And when we get to where stable, we build up the boulders. After boulders, we put up sharp sand, and after the sharp sand, we compact, and leave it out for the traffic so that it gets maximum compaction.
“After that, we put 10 cm with 5% cement to stabilise it to make it very strong. That will make the road very stable and it will last for a long time.”
The Deputy Chief Whip, Sen. Onyekachi Peter Nwaebonyi, who is also the Deputy Chairman, Public Accounts and member, Works Committee of the 10th Senate, said, “This is what we were lacking before. Like he said here, he is not an office minister. He moves from site to site to ensure that the jobs are done according to specifications. That is what we want in this country, and I want to commend Mr President for finding him worthy of this position. This is the very first time an expert is leading this ministry, and I want to assure Nigerians that very soon they will see the difference in all our projects.”