FG suspends planned closure of Eko Bridge

The federal government has suspended its earlier plan to shut down the Eko Bridge in Lagos State.

The Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, announced the decision during an inspection of the bridge on Tuesday.

Umahi said: “We directed that this bridge be closed. That was about two weeks back, but our caring President Bola Tinubu is very much concerned about the closure of this Eko Bridge.

“He has asked me to come back here and take a second look at that decision so that we don’t induce much hardship on Nigerians.”

According to the minister, a fresh technical assessment carried out by his team on Monday showed that the bridge remains safe for use for now, making an immediate closure unnecessary.

He said: “We have done our technical evaluation in line with the President’s directive. Putting safety over and above every decision, we have seen that, for now, we are safe, but we won’t get to a situation where any Nigerian on this bridge will not be safe. We have agreed on three procedures.”

Umahi explained that the first step would be to keep the bridge open while closely monitoring the crack observed on the structure.

He noted that the crack was not currently expanding either “arithmetically or geometrically.”

He said: “No progression so far. We are comfortable, but a crack can occur anytime. I will return here to reassess it.”

The minister also disclosed plans for remedial work on the bridge.

He said: “We have agreed on remedial work that could be carried out within four months by Buildwell, and that is by doing additional piling and a pie cap and joining it to the cracked one to bypass the section that is cracked.

“That can lead us to open the entire bridge and when that is done, we will wait for the entire design whereby the entire slab within that section will be lifted and then we will demolish what was cracked.”

Umahi commended President Bola Tinubu for his commitment to infrastructure development and the welfare of Nigerians.

He said: “I can assure you that the President means well, and we owe him prayers and support, and God will take us there.”