FG Reopens Apapa/ Leventis Bridge, Pledges Repairs On Third Mainland Bridge After closure for over one year, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing on Wednesday reopened the Apapa/Leventis Bridge to traffic. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the bridge was closed for emergency repairs in August 2016 after a portion of the bridge deck damaged by fire caved in. Some of the reinforcement rods on top of the bridge’s centre had become exposed as the asphalt covering them had been eroded. It was re-opened to light traffic after the emergency repairs and later shut in 2017. The permanent repairs began in 2018 after Julius Berger, the contractor on the project, imported some materials to aid the repairs. The 40-year-old bridge links Nigeria’s premier port to both the Lagos Mainland and Island. While performing the tape cutting ceremony to open the bridge, the Director Highways, South West, Mr Funsho Adebiyi said that the opening would ease gridlock on the Apapa axis. “It is my pleasure to open this bridge in the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today we are having a new bridge as well as a new access road. So, hopefully gridlock will end here,” he said. He said that government was going to take drastic action against all forms of abuses that would cause damage to bridges in Lagos. The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Adedamola Kuti said that the bridge was damaged in 2016 due to “activities of some miscreants living under the bridge’’. “When the contractor came on board and removed the slab, that is the deck that got damaged, we discovered that the beams carrying the weight of the slab itself had been affected by the fire. “So, there was no way we could go ahead with the replacement of the slab, other than for us to start from the beams. So we had to produce new distress beams, and then, of course, the slabs. “And we have also done the surfacing of the other adjoining slab close to the damaged one,’’ he said. He thanked residents for their patience during the period of closure of the bridge and pledged Federal Government’s commitment to continued maintenance of all the roads and bridges in Lagos. He listed bridges that had been repaired to include the Marine Beach Bridge, Coconut Bridge and Ijora 7Up Bridge. He added that work was ongoing on the Alaka Bridge in Surulere and the Third Mainland Bridge. He further explained that repair works were ongoing on Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta, Lagos-Ibadan, Ikorodu-Sagamu Expressways and some other federal roads in the metropolise. Kuti said that materials for total rehabilitation of the Third Mainland bridge had been imported and that permanent repair works would soon begin on some damaged expansion joints alongside the ongoing rehabilitation of the bridge. “We have completed the Adeniji Adele bound, we are working on the Mainland bound. So the repair works on the Third Mainland will start very soon because our materials are on the way,’’ he said. Speaking on the newly installed beams on the Apapa/Leventis Bridge, Mr Thomas Balzuweit, Julius Berger’s Regional Manager, said that experts were used to get “a comprehensive design study to get high quality materials“. Balzuweit added that various quality control checks were done before installing the beams to ensure structural integrity of the bridge to cater for the huge vehicular traffic on the axis. Alhaji Wasiu Olowuntoye, President, Container Truck Owners Association, who led a delegation of truck drivers to witness the opening, said that the hardship to truck owners would be minimized. “We are happy today because our members have suffered so much, they spend several days and sometimes weeks trying to go in or out of the ports but with this bridge opened, there will be good for traffic flow,’’ he said. Source: (NAN) ...

No Nation Develops Without Building Its Infrastructure - Fashola The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola SAN, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is committed to providing the necessary roads, bridges, rails and electricity that will, in no distant time bring about the overall social economic and political development of Nigeria inspite of visible and sharp decline of oil revenue. Fashola disclosed this late yesterday, when he received in audience the Management, 18 facilitators and 57 participants of the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria, who paid him a courtesy call in his Mabushi office. He commended the effort of NITT for including Transport Planning and Logistic works in their curriculum which is useful in the chain of production and distribution of goods and services in Nigeria, adding that the present administration needs the services of the institute and that Mr President is providing a very useful laboratory material for members of the institute to thrive. The Minister described members of NITT as stakeholders and partners in the wheel of progress and development of the Nigeria economy, noting that ‘’ the elements of national development and prosperity have come together at the appropriate time’’. He therefore enjoined members of NITT to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to achieve his mandate of providing the basic needed infrastructure for the overall benefit of Nigerians. Earlier, the Acting Director General and Chief Executive of NITT, Dr Abimbola Odumosu stated on behalf of his institute that the reason for their visit was essentially to seek for partnership with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing in the development of manpower as regards transport and logistics which is NITT’s  area of specialisation, stating that collaboration between NITT and the Ministry will provide the nation with the needed impetus for sustainable growth and development. Dr Abimbola disclosed that NITT was established in 1986 as a Management Development Institution to among other things provide management training for personnel employed in all modes of transport and Serves as a Transport Intelligence Centre for monitoring transport and logistics system and to conduct research in all modes of transport in Nigeria ...

Infrastructure- Key To A Sustainable Economy And Development- Fashola The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, has reiterated President Buhari’s commitment to renew and expand the Nigerian economy through the provision of critical infrastructure, which is the gateway to a sustainable economy and development across the globe. The Minister said this when he received members of Federation of Construction Industry in Nigeria (FOCI) who paid him a courtesy call in his Office today. Fashola  emphasized that all gratitude should go to President Buhari who merged the three ministries namely; Power, Works and Housing so as to create rapid development  in infrastructural growth of the nation as well as maximum impact on the economy. He explained that the Ministry is almost completing 34 pilot National Housing programme in the States that have provided land for the take-off of the programme, adding that rehabilitation and reconstruction of Federal Secretariats are also going on in Bayelsa, Anambra, Zamfara and Nasarawa States. The Minister stated that power generation has increased from 4, 000 megawatts in 2015 to 8, 000 megawatts in 2018. He noted that Nigerians now spend less on fueling of generators and plants because of frequent and improved electricity supply nationwide. He said that President Buhari’s led Administration is rebuilding and expanding the Nigeria economy policy decision through building of infrastructure, adding that the Federal Government recognizes the efforts of the Association in helping to galvanized the quarry and mining industry due to the volume of construction going on in the built environment and the road sector. He said “’When I first met you, there were complains of non- payment for three to four years before the coming of this Administration. But I can confidently say there is not one year since the beginning of this Administration that contractors have not been paid, the money move round the economy.” Fashola also explained that Executive Order 5 seeks to achieve local participation for Nigerians and Nigerian companies, stressing that the Ministry is already compiling list of Nigerians working on sites, arguing that government is set to protect its citizens as is a global practice. He further explained that the latest Executive Order 7 signed by the President is a driver to Industrialization, adding that this will expand construction work and manufacturing jobs that will evidently create more jobs and improve the economy. The Minister noted that the essence of these Executive Orders is government’s commitment to create next level jobs, employment, infrastructure and manufacturing. Earlier, the Director General of the association and leader of the delegation, Engr. Mrs Olubunmi Adekoje appreciate the Ministry for the support given to the Association and timely intervention in the area of finance to boost the activities of the industry. In attendance was the Permanent Secretary of Power, Works and Housing, (Work and Housing) Muhammed Bukar and Directors from the Ministry ...