By Kadiri Abdulrahman/Grace Alegba
Lagos – Construction work on the Abule-Egba flyover in Lagos has attained 85 per cent completion and would be delivered by April, according to the Site Engineer of the project.
The Site Engineer, who simply identified himself as Mr Tony, gave this assurance on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the project site.
He said that the remaining aspects of the job were to lay asphalt on the dual carriageway underneath, as well as on the flyover.
“You can see for yourself the state of activities on this site. The job is already 85 per cent completed and by God’s grace, it will be delivered by April.
“What is left now is to lay asphalt on the road underneath, and on the flyover itself,” he said.
The site engineer said that the busy nature of the road posed some little challenges during the construction work.
“Ordinarily, a construction site is expected to be devoid of human and vehicular traffic, for safety reasons.
“But this area is densely populated and it is difficult to keep people from moving around, though it was challenging for us but we were able to manage it.
“We are working on both sides of the road, to open it up for vehicular traffic in the next two weeks, before moving to conclude work on the bridge,” he said.
The site engineer said that cooperation of the host communities and other road users aided the progress and speed of the job.
NAN reports that the Abule-Egba Flyover is located on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
Rehabilitation work there has shifted to the road under the bridge, where modern drainage kerbs are being fixed for flood control.
Some road users who spoke to NAN have expressed excitement at the prospect of completion of the flyover on schedule.
Mr Shola Farouk, a resident of Abule Egba, told NAN that the hardship faced on the road due to the construction was much.
“Government is doing its best, the traffic agencies are working round the clock, and we are happy that the job will soon be concluded,” he said.
Another resident of the area, Mr Joseph Oki, lauded the construction company and the Lagos state government for the speedy completion of the project.
“This is a big project, and we are happy that so much progress has already been made, and the project will end gridlock on this axis, he said.
Mrs Patricia Dania, another resident of the area, also expressed excitement at the prospect of a smooth, free-flow of traffic on the road.
He thanked the construction company and the Lagos state government for rehabilitating the road.
NAN reports that the project which began in February 2016, had May 2017 as its completion date.
The project is being handled by Messrs Craneburg Construction Company.
It consists of a reinforced concrete, dual carriageway flyover and a two-lane road on both sides.
It is expected to reduce travel time, improve road connectivity, as well as improve socio-economic activities in the axis.