FG to close Third Mainland Bridge, after Christmas.

To enable some maintenance , the Federal Controller of Works Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola on Tuesday announced a 72-hour total closure of the Third Mainland Bridge to cast concrete on the expansion joints.

Popoola told journalists in Lagos that the shutdown will take effect from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Tuesday.

He added that construction works had reached the stage for casting concrete on additional three expansion joints.

“There is going to be a total closure of Third Mainland Bridge in order to allow for the casting of three number expansion joints on the Island Bound lane

“The effective date of the closure will be from 12:00 midnight on 25th of December. So, people will be allowed to use the Third Mainland Bridge to celebrate Christmas.

“By the time the Christmas is winding down which is 12:00 midnight, we are going to close it so that we will be able to cast the concrete on Saturday the 26th and 27th.

” And we need about 72 hours for this concrete to set. Therefore, the opening will be on December 28th midnight – that is 72-hour closure.

“This is to prevent vibration of the bridge. If we allow vehicles to be moving on one lane, there is going to be vibrations and the concrete will not set properly,” he said.

The controller said that all the alternative routes are in good condition and traffic regulatory agencies have been deployed to effectively divert and manage traffic to avert gridlock.

Popoola also announced a 48-hour partial closure of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from December 28 to December 29 to complete some work on a flyover bridge on the project.

“The contractor, Messers Julius Berger wants to install cross beams at Kilometre 16, that is, around MFM.

“That area will be cordoned off, there will be closure within that section from 12:00 pm on 28th of December and it will be opened to traffic by 5:00 am the following day.