The Federal Government will begin demolishing badly damaged parts of the Iddo Bridge next week as work starts to rebuild the crossing, officials and contractors said Monday.
Thomas Christl, regional manager for Julius Berger Nigeria, said three spans of the bridge “are heavily damaged and need to be replaced.”
He told reporters the company will first separate the two directions of traffic, then shift vehicles onto one side so “one half of the bridge will be demolished and rebuilt.”
The phased work should allow traffic to keep moving while repairs proceed.
Christl said engineers are also building an underpass and doing drainage work before lowering the road level to give “a higher clearance for the bridge, so that no trucks can crash into the bridge anymore, which was a main reason for the damages on the existing one.”
He said officials expect to shift traffic to the newly rebuilt side by the end of March.
Minister of Works David Umahi said the damage followed a fire under the bridge and repeated collisions with heavy trucks.
“The Iddo Bridge suffered a fire outbreak because of illegal occupants,” he said during an inspection. Officials have ordered removal of traders and illegal structures beneath the bridge in past months for safety reasons.
Lagos motorists should expect lane changes and diversions when work begins.
Authorities said the phased demolition and rebuild aims to restore safe, long-lasting traffic flow across the busy link and reduce future collisions.
