The bridge linking Igbogene and Okoloibiri communities in Yenagoa,
Bayelsa State collapsed on Saturday.
Vincent Jack, the state Commander of Federal Roads Safety Corps, who
confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria, said the
agency had commenced rescue efforts.
Jack urged motorists and other road users to use alternative routes.
Jack said the FRSC had dispatched its personnel to divert traffic from
the affected area to ensure smooth flow of traffic.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Works, Lawrence
Erujakpor, on Saturday in Yenagoa said efforts were underway to
immediately repair the Igbogene-Okoloibiri bridge, which caved in
earlier in the day.
Erujakpor told the News Agency of Nigeria he had also ordered the
bridge’s closure to traffic to pave the way for emergency repairs
while the second lane’s construction was in progress.
NAN reports that the bridge, which links the Igbogene and Okoloibiri
communities in Yenagoa, had been closed to traffic after its collapse.
Erujakpor said: “I ordered the closure of the road, while the police
and FRSC officials have been drafted there to divert traffic.
“But the contractors, Dantata and Sawoe, are presently on their
month-end break, and will not be available until Monday.
“However, we have advised them to redouble their efforts to stabilise
the bridge in the next one or two weeks and re-open it to light
traffic as work on the second lane progresses.”
He however disclosed that heavy duty vehicles would not be allowed to
ply the bridge when it is reopened to the public, due to the weakness
of the bridge.
Erujakpor said engineers from the Ministry of Works were already
evaluating the integrity and possible remedy to ensure that the bridge
was re-opened to light vehicles.
A NAN correspondent who visited the bridge site in Igbogene community
on Saturday, reports that pedestrians were still crossing the bridge
on foot while it remained closed to vehicular traffic.
Cracks were noticed at both ends of the bridge while construction
activities had been stopped and unmanned heavy equipment littered the
site.
It was also observed that passengers were compelled to break their
journeys between Igbogene and from Okoloibiri at the bridge site.
Passengers from Yenagoa now cross the bridge on foot and boarded
another vehicle to take them to Okoloibiri.
Meanwhile, residents in the area told NAN the development had affected
economic activities, as the closure of the bridge had disconnected the
community from other parts of the state.
Esther Esin, a petty trader by the bridge, urged the state government
to hasten work on the project to reduce the effect of the closure on
the socio-economic life of the people.
Esin said: “It is really insensitive of the contractors to have left
site while there is an emergency situation at site.
“We understand that they are on their end-of-the-month holiday, but
the situation demands a round-the-clock work schedule.
“The bridge’s closure is affecting everybody here and we want the
contractors to do all that is necessary to make a change.
“Their speed of work is not encouraging at all.”
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