Third Mainland Bridge Collapse Story Is False – Fashola

The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos is safe the Federal Government declared on Sunday as it debunked a trending social media frenzy about an imminent collapse of the country’s longest bridge.

Mr. Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works, and housing in a statement issued on Sunday said trending social media claims of a faulty and weak expansion joint about to collapse gave a wrong account of the situation as he assured that there was no cause for alarm.

The minister’s statement which came through his Special Adviser on Communications, Hakeem Bello read thus:

“General Public is hereby informed that the expansion joint shown in a Facebook video clip, is one of those slated for change during repairs to the Third Mainland Bridge which will commence soon. It is still functioning and our engineers and consultants have advised that it does not pose any structural danger to the bridge and it is safe to use.

‘Commuters and Lagos residents will recall that the Third Mainland Bridge was shut down for a three-day Investigative Maintenance in August 2018. Tests done on the expansion joints then – called static and dynamic load tests – were to check functionality. A number of expansion joints were identified for replacement then.

“More recently, in March this year, underwater confirmatory tests preceding the repair works to be done on the Bridge, were carried out on the piles to determine if there is further deterioration or not on the piles from that done in 2013. 

“However, all the tests done preparatory to closure of the bridge to commence comprehensive maintenance works indicate that the integrity of the bridge is intact.

“Therefore, the Third Mainland Bridge is safe for use, and people should desist from spreading or sharing false information about the Bridge on Social Media platforms.” 

The Third Mainland Bridge commissioned in 1990 by the Ibrahim Babangida military administration was the longest bridge in Africa until 1996 when the October Bridge was commissioned in Egypt.

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