The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo approved the cost of a contract change for the old Enugu Onitsha road. The road begins at the Okupi intersection and runs to Udioji down to the Anambra border in Enugu state.
According to the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, the augmentation cost was in the sum of N17,050,000,000. They revised the contract to N48,996,488,925 with an additional 42 months to complete.
Additionally, a contract to maintain the surface of the 3rd Mainland Bridge in Lagos at N6,278,063,585.58 has been approved. It has a completion time of 24 months.
Fashola noted that this is in line with Executive Order 11 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. It is basically for the continued maintenance of public infrastructure.
Asked why the contract for the maintenance of the pavement of the Third Mainland Bridge, given the fact that it was recently worked on, Fashola explained that –
“Okay, we did some work on Third Mainland Bridge before, why were there potholes now on it? So, this contract is in response to the potholes that have become manifest on the entire pavement of the deck of the bridge, spanning 11 kilometres and the interchanges at Adeniji Adele, Adekunle, and Gbagada ramps that all link the bridge.
“This is for the resurfacing and all of that. Those who are familiar with the bridge will recall that all of these failings were not this manifest on the bridge at the time we were doing the work we were doing. The work that we did concentrate largely on the sub-structure of the bridge, the piles, the underwater piles, the pile caps, and also the replacement of the expansion joint and the bearings.
“These are maintenance works that are critical to the structural integrity of the bridge. What we’re dealing with now is different. It is the driving surface and the aesthetics, some of the rails that have been stolen, some of the planes that are misaligned at ramps that lead you on and off the bridge. So, this is the work that is being done now. So, all the experience of avoiding potholes on the bridge, this award of contract will tackle that,” he told State House correspondents.
cc: Independent Ng
