Senate seeks urgent repairs of Third Mainland, Second Niger bridges

The Senate yesterday adopted two motions on the need for the Federal Government to repair the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos and the Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.
On the Third Mainland Bridge, the Senate mandated its Committee on Works, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Works, to carry out an in-depth investigation on the state of the bridge to enable experts repair it.
The senators also urged the Federal Government to inspect all its bridges over water to save them from further deterioration and collapse.
The Senate urged the Federal Ministry of Works to reinforce, repairs and rehabilitate the Niger Bridge to forestall the tragic consequences of its likely collapse.
It also urged the Federal Ministry of Works to take work on the second Niger Bridge before the end of this quarter.
The motion on Third Mainland Bridge, entitled: Urgent need to investigate the imminent collapsed of Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, was sponsored by Senator Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East) and 55 others; Niger Bridge, entitled: Immediate action on the second Niger Bridge Project, was sponsored by Senator Hope Uzodinma (Imo West) and 39 others.
In his lead debate, Ashafa said there have been complaints of shifting and vibrations on the Third Mainland Bridge.
The senator noted that a report by a company, which has experiences in underwater survey, indicated that the underwater metal casing, housing the concrete piles on which the bridge stands, have rusted.
He said the surveyors explained that the rust accounts for the vibration experienced in some portions of the bridge which also led to the closure of the bridge for repairs between July 7 and October 30, last year, by the Federal Ministry of Works.
Ashafa noted that Prof. J. H. T. Kim, head of the Concrete Structural Engineering Laboratory, Yousei University, Seoul Korea, was on a research last December and conducted an underwater examination of the structures holding the bridge.
The Korean was said to have reported that the damage to the structure were worse than what he had been briefed on.
He said there were indications that the stretch of the Third Mainland Bridge between Adeniji Adele, Adekunle and Oworonshoki could collapse.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) said the seventh Senate cannot afford to be indifferent to the fears of Nigerians and the potential loss of lives.
She said the Third Mainland Bridge, which is about 11.8 kilometres and inaugurated in 1990, serves hundreds of Nigerians from various parts of the country.
The senator said besides the concerns expressed by many Nigerians Dr. Kim’s warning should also not be dismissed.
Senator Tinubu said: “If we truly value citizens’ lives, the prevailing concerns about a critical infrastructure, such as the Third Mainland Bridge, cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand.”