Collapsing bridge leading to Lagos port shut down to save lives and property

Access to Apapa, Nigeria’s first port city, through the Ijora-Apapa bridge has now been shut down , as the bridge has caved in, at a critical spot.


The temporary shut down began  from Sunday (yesterday) and affects the outbound lane of the bridge which leads from Apapa to Ijora.

Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who disclosed this at a stakeholders consultative meeting on the collapsing bridge, Sunday, said shutting down the bridge was a difficult choice, pointing out that saving lives was a better choice than the inconvenience the closure of the bridge would bring.

“It is a sobering experience that the Federal Government is now dealing with many years of neglect”, he lamented, disclosing that there were many other bridges across the country which were crying for attention, maintenance and repair.

Fashola had during the inspection of the bridge last week Thursday, recalled that the Apapa bridge was over 40 years old, and had not received proper maintenance for that period, yet continued to carry weights exceeding its capacity, due to the busy nature of the sea port area.

“The bridge has really been battered by us, abused by us, and as a result, we are having the contractor do a total evaluation of what is seen and unseen, so that we can restore the bridge to something close to its original form by the time we finish.

“We will change the expansion joints, mill the surface, replace the surface and also replace some of the reinforcements and strengthen them. We cannot reach a conclusion until we see all the engineering requirements, designs and costs,’’ he said.

The bridge is one of the two major routes to Nigeria’s major ports but has suffered terrible neglect, just like the second route—the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway – which has also been degraded by the activities of trucks and tanker drivers who park indiscriminately, defecate on the expressway and have killed so many.

Construction giant, Julius Berger has started work on the project.

Fashola called for closer co-operation between the transport unions and the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, so as to control traffic in such a way that residents, businesses and commuters are not subjected to too much stress.