From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Minister of Works, Engineer Dave Umahi has condemned the design of the bypass of the Second Niger Bridge, saying that the early discovery of the defective construction has saved the country N300 billion
Umahi stated this when he inspected the rehabilitation of Enugu- Port Harcourt dual carriageway section IV (Aba-Port Harcourt) handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Limited (CCECC) at the weekend.
“Just two days back, we went to Asaba to look at the design of the bypass of the Second Niger bridge, and we went to Onitsha. And by that singular movement, we saw that the design was defective and we agreed on a new kind of design. That was how we saved the country over N300 billion by that singular movement to that location” he said.
The minister also enjoined contractors to ensure that the roads they are working on are made passable for commuters during the rainy season. He thanked the president for the enablement to change the narrative of the road infrastructure in Nigeria. On the section being handled by CCECC, he noted that the government would not accept anything less than two to three sections working.
“And I’ve given seven days for this particular lane. That is, the upper bound lane to be totally repaired, to ameliorate the sufferings of the commuters. I feel for them very highly. When you go through this road, you now need to take a number of painkillers. It’s not desirable. So I’m begging CCECC, the controller, and engineers to do everything possible to create a smooth sail on this right-hand side in the next seven days.
“I want to thank Mr. President, so much. He has done a lot in our road infrastructure. He’s a man who wants all the roads to be completed as soon as possible. But let me assure him that I’m doing the best that I can with the fear of God and with a commitment to his Renewed Hope agenda, which we all embraced” he said
Umahi who also visited the upgrading of the 15km section of the East-West road section III: (Port Harcourt – Eleme Junction to Onne Junction in Rivers State) handled by Renolds Construction Company (RCC) said that the rehabilitation of Enugu- Port Harcourt Expressway Section, Enugu- Lokpanta handled by CGC and the rehabilitation work at the collapsed bridge site at the New Artisan Bridge near Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) mega filling station Enugu Capital City, Enugu State, expressed satisfaction with the job being done but charged contractors to step up their pace to cover a milestone ahead of the rainy season.
On the project along Eleme Refinery Road, he said: “We are upgrading the 15km road between Eleme flyover to Onne junction. We are starting with excavation to fill all the failed sections to make them stable. And when we get to where we are stable, we’ll build up the boulders.
“After boulders, we’ll put up sharp sand, and after the sharp sand, we’ll compact. After the compaction, we’ll put the first layer of stone base, 20cm first layer that will build up against another 10cm of stone base, we compact.
After compacting, we leave it out for the traffic. So that it gets maximum compaction. After that, we put 10 cm with 5 per cent cement to stabilize it and make it very strong. That will make the road very stable and it will last for a long time,” he said