Third Mainland Bridge is Not Falling Down – FG
The Federal Ministry of Works has debunked rumors making the rounds on social media which state that the Third Mainland Bridge is headed for structural collapse.
The ministry appealed to motorists to disregard the reports. In a statement released yesterday the ministry said the rumour was not based on any empirical evidence.
The ministry said in 2006, engineers from the ministry, Julius Berger and Borini Prono inspected the bridge due to claims that the bridge was oscillating. At the end of that exercise, the government invited international bridge experts to conduct further inspections of the bridge.He said after series of inspections and investigations by contractors and bridge design consultants, the studies revealed that there was no threat of collapse on the Third Mainland Bridge. “It was the same process that led to the commissioning of an Underwater Studies of the Bridge Sub-structure recently.
“The preliminary report of the Underwater Investigation though not yet concluded revealed that the metal casing housing the concrete is rotting away as a result of the activities of certain sea creatures attracted to that section of the Lagos Lagoon due to the discharge of organic effluent into the Lagoon,” he said.
The report prompted the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, to write the Lagos State government to stop the discharge of organic effluents into the lagoon in the area.
An independent consultant was then invited to review the underwater report and photographs, and fears of an immediate danger to the bridge were allayed. The expert, he said explained that the metal casings were not structural elements, but only served as frameworks during the construction work and acted as additional protection for the structural elements.
belovedanyi
August 27, 2012 at 11:03 am
I hope detailed reports of the investigation will be made public.