The Federal Ministry of Works on Wednesday shut down the Apapa-bound lane of the beginning of Marine Bridge at Ijora, Lagos after it was damaged by vandals.
On Wednesday afternoon when SHIPS & PORTS visited the bridge, Lagos State traffic control officials were seen trying to install crash barriers to barricade the damaged portion of the busy bridge.
An Assistant Director of Federal Highways, Olukorede Keisha, who also visited the scene, said the vandalised section of the bridge caved in on Tuesday evening.
She said investigation revealed that the vandals had set fire underneath the bridge to gain access to iron rods and other steel components.
“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 a 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.
Keisha appealed to road users to be patient as the Federal Government was doing everything possible to fix the damaged portion of the bridge.
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