Failed Ijora Bridge: Residents allege shoddy job, lack of supervision

• Saboteurs stole major reinforcement element, says FG 
• Lagos shuts, diverts traffic at Ijora axis indefinitely

Motorists and residents, yesterday, said failed portion of Ijora-Olopa, inward Ijora-Oloye–Apapa, opposite Water Corporation, may have been caused by lack of supervision by the Federal Ministry of Work and Housing, as well as parking of heavy-duty trucks in the area.
    

MEANWHILE, Lagos State’s Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Fredric Oladeinde, said the bridge has been shut down for repairs.
  
Oladeinde, who did not give a specific period the repairs and diversion would last, stressed that the diversion became necessary pending repairs to be carried out by the Federal Government, in collaboration with the state government.
  
The commissioner listed the following routes already mapped out to minimise inconvenience, to include: Motorists from Eko Bridge to utilise Iganmu/Sifax to access Ijora Oloye or Apapa.
 
Motorists from Iddo heading to Ijora-Oloye/Apapa will be diverted at the intersection underpass on a contra flow to reconnect at the U-Turn inwards Ijora-Oloye or Apapa.

The ministry, therefore, appealed to motorists who make use of the corridor to cooperate with the state’s Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the interventions put in place to manage the traffic.
  
Also, a statement by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, through his Special Adviser on Communications, Hakeem Bello, read in part: “The Federal Government on Wednesday directed the immediate closure of the Ijora-Olopa Bridge following the discovery that some miscreants have tampered with the major reinforcement elements of the deck from underneath, which led to the failure of a section of the Bridge along Ijora Olopa Road, beside Water Corporation, Ijora.
 
“Roads leading directly to the Bridge such as Costain inward Eko Bridge and Carter Bridge descent inward Ijora Oloye have, as a result, been closed to traffic from last night.
  
“Working with the Lagos State government and other traffic management authorities, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos has also issued the following Traffic Advisory to ensure that motorists and other members of the commuting public are able to use alternative routes. Eko Bridge motorists should take IGANMU/ SIFAX to Ijora Oloye or Apapa. From Iddo to Ijora-Oloye/ Apapa; traffic will be diverted at the intersection underpass at Ijora Olopa on contraflow, and reconnected at the U-Turn to Ijora-Oloye or Apapa.”