Following the Federal Government’s announcement of the 3-day closure of the Third Mainland Bridge, as a result, residents are likely to endure vehicular movement difficulties. The bridge was shut down on the midnight of Christmas Day.
The bridge will be reopen for use at midnight of December 28. The bridge was closed for repair purposes.
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The Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Olukayode Popoola who made the announcement stated that the repairs being undertaken to avoid vibration of the bridge.
“There is going to be a total closure of Third Mainland Bridge in order to allow for the casting of three number expansion joints on the Island Bound lane. The effective date of the closure will be from 12:00 midnight of 25th of December. So people will be allowed to use the Third Mainland Bridge to celebrate Christmas.’’
“By the time the Christmas is winding down which is 12:00 midnight, we are going to close it, so that we will be able to cast the concrete on Saturday the 26th and on 27th we cast again. And we need about 72 hours for this concrete to set. Therefore, the opening will be on the 28th December midnight, that is 72-hour closure,” he said.
Popoola rationalized the full closure of the bridge as a necessary step because, “If we allow vehicles to be moving on one lane, there is going to be vibrations and the concrete will not set properly.”
He also announced that there will be a partial closure of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway for 48 hours, beginning from Monday, December 28 to Tuesday, December 29, for the completion of some repairs.
The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos was partially shut on July 24 for rehabilitation works and a series of repairs.
The repair expected to last six months was extended by one month due to the #EndSARS protests in Lagos extending the completion date from January 2021 to February.
The thirdmainland bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland.
