Federal Government initiates 700KM Lagos-Calabar coastal road construction project

The Federal Government of Nigeria has initiated the construction of the 700 km Lagos-Calabar coastal road by handing over the first phase of 47.47 kilometers of the dual carriageway to the contractor on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

The highway, spanning nine states with two spurs extending to the North, is deemed crucial to the Federal Government’s comprehensive economic recovery strategy, according to the Minister of Works, David Umahi.

Umahi, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, stressed the importance of timely completion of the project, warning contractors against delays or slow progress after mobilization. He lauded the contractors, Hitech Construction Company Ltd, for promptly commencing work and delivering quality results, stating: “They have completed some filling of 1.3 kilometers from the day the project was awarded to them. It shows the speed they are going to deploy to this project.

“Within a couple of weeks, we awarded the project to them, they mobilised a lot of dredging equipment, and you can see that they have recovered 1.3 kilometers of section one of the phase”.

During his visit to other project sites, including Queen’s Drive Ikoyi, the top deck of the Third Mainland Bridge, and others, Umahi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to rehabilitating critical bridges in Lagos. He emphasized the significance of these bridges as vital links between the Mainland and Island areas of Lagos, the nation’s economic nerve center.

The Minister outlined the scope of rehabilitation work planned for the Third Mainland Bridge, including deck repairs, installation of guardrails, replacement of lights with solar-powered ones, and the addition of CCTV cameras for security purposes. He also addressed issues of slab deflection and tendon reinstatement, assuring the public that these measures would ensure the structural integrity of the bridge.

“At the Third Mainland bridge, we have three or four critical elements to be rehabilitated. The first one is the deck, and the deck is about 11 kilometers × two,” Umahi said.

“That is dual carriageway, including the ramps, and it has been done by CCECC. They have done very beautiful jobs, but we have not concluded.
“Before the end of March, we’ll be concluding the asphalt milling and the reasphalting.

“But that is not all our commitment there. We are installing the guardrails, we are replacing the lights with solar light, we are going to put some decorative lights too, and then we are going to put CCTV cameras both on top and under the bridge to check insecurity and illegal mining of sand, which is causing scouring on the piles and the pipe bits.

“The second job is that some sections of the slab are deflected, and so what we have done is to get an expert to understudy the level of deflection.

“That’s the tendons of the slab that deflected. And so we are going to cut open the slabs, enter and then look at it, scoop it, and then reinstate the tendons of the slab.

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s been done at Eko bridge by Buildwell. So this one is not a threat to us at all,” the Minister remarked.