Third Mainland Bridge Has Been Closed. What Next?

With an estimated 20 million people, Lagos is Africa’s most populous city with the highest population density in Nigeria.

The state’s population size comes at a price – clogged roads, exacerbated by insufficient and, in several areas, decrepit transport infrastructure.

Now, the daily commuting experience of many Lagos residents is about to become harsher after the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing announced plans to close the Third Mainland Bridge for rehabilitation starting, from July 24 to January 24.

The closure, according to the ministry’s front-man in Lagos, Olukayode Popoola, is long overdue, for a contract awarded since 2018.

With the budget sum of N18.875bn, the rehabilitation work is expected to run for 27 months and will be carried out by Borini Prono, one of the consortia of companies that built the bridge in the 1980s.

The replacements of the worn-out bearings and bad expansion joints are scheduled for the six months; this warranted the partial closure of the bridge.

The general maintenance of the entire 177 piles that form the foundation of the bridge, a major part of the rehabilitation work, is also expected to be carried out, but this is an underwater work and has nothing to do with the bridge’s closure.

In August 2018, the Third Mainland Bridge was shut for a three-day investigative maintenance; an underwater confirmatory test was also carried out in March 2019. Also in 2019, a viral video indicating an unusual vibration of the bridge raised concerns over the bridge’s safety, but the federal government dispelled the rumours insisting the bridge was structurally fit and poses no danger to users. Meanwhile, further investigation revealed that the worn-out expansion joints of the cantilever bridge may not be posing an immediate threat to the structure at the time, but consistent use without carrying out the required maintenance work has left the bridge in bad shape.

The Lagos state government says it has a record of 60,000 trips going from the Mainland to the Island daily. Coupled with the city’s traffic problems, it is almost impossible for the government or its contractors to find a perfect time for rehabilitation work on the bridge.

John has been on the road for four hours; he’s trying to connect the usable part of the Eko Bridge through the National Theatre entry point. John throws out his head intermittently to check what could be the cause of the traffic but all he could see from a short distance are a long queue of heavy-duty vehicles.