KEY POINTS
- FG declares Carter Bridge “irredeemable.”
- Consultants and Julius Berger assessing reports on structural damage.
- Old demolished bridge remnants complicate new works.
The Federal Government says Lagos’s Carter Bridge is in such a critical state that it may no longer be salvageable, raising the prospect of an entirely new structure to replace one of the city’s oldest crossings.
Umahi: “Carter bridge may have to go”
Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, disclosed this during an inspection of the bridge’s underdeck in Lagos on Tuesday.
“What we did today was to see whether we can salvage the ramps to cut down the cost and time of construction. That decision, we could not take,” Umahi said.
He added that consultants and Julius Berger Plc were still assessing structural reports with technical instruments, but preliminary findings suggest that “both the ramp and the main axial section of the Carter Bridge will have to go.”
Past demolition complicates work
Umahi noted that remnants of the old Carter Bridge demolished decades ago with explosives still lie submerged in the water.
“Whatever we are doing, we have to consider removal of that so as not to affect navigational activities,” he explained.
Search for temporary relief
Despite the grim outlook, Umahi said the ministry is exploring whether parts of the existing bridge could still be repaired and kept in limited use while a new alignment is developed.
“The critical decision is: since all stakeholders appear to agree that a new Carter Bridge should be built, is there any way we can salvage something to be in use while we take a different alignment?” he said.
Third Mainland Bridge not in danger
The minister clarified that the government has no plans to demolish and replace the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos’s busiest bridge.
“The ministry is not buying the idea of a fresh Third Mainland Bridge. We will do everything possible to rehabilitate it,” Umahi stressed.
