As its completion inches closer, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the construction firm handling the Second Niger Bridge, has carried out a test run of the streetlights to ensure their workability.
Former governor of Lagos State and present Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has given his assurances that the Second Niger Bridge will be commissioned and opened to vehicular movement in no distant time.
The Second Niger Bridge, a federal government project, is being managed by the federal ministry of works and housing in collaboration with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
Construction on the bridge began in September 2018 b President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The bridge spans from Asaba in Delta state to Ozubulu and Ogbaru areas in Anambra state and the Far East regions of the country.
Acting Controller of Works in Anambra, Seyi Martins, said in an interview with newsmen days ago and also assured that the bridge will be available to travellers by the yuletide period of the year.
Martins said that the first phase of the Second Niger Bridge measuring 1.6km, had reached 95 per cent completion.
He said motorists would not be subjected to gridlock experienced on the existing bridge during Yuletide this year.
“The first phase of the project, which was the bridge itself, is substantially completed. The bridge project is 95 percent complete and it is expected to be ready by December 2022.
“The steel guard rails are complete, the roads are set for vehicle traffic; the toll plaza area is almost,” he said.
The Controller said the bridge could be accessed from the interchange at Obosi on the Onitsha-Owerri road and that a road was being constructed to connect traffic on the Asaba-Benin expressway to it pending the completion of the second phase.
“The second phase of the project is yet to commence, but the government has deemed it fit that upon completion of the first phase it will be open to traffic.
“At the Onitsha end, there is an interchange at Obosi along the Onitsha – Owerri highway where you can access the bridge.
“On the Asaba end, there is a link road we are constructing to enable travellers to access the bridge from Benin-Onitsha road,” he said.