By Okey Maduforo Awka .
There are growing fears that most bridges across the country are on the verge of collapse following what Professionals in Civil Engineering described as poor facility maintenance on the part of government.
They further posted that some of the bridges had their building standards and quality compromised despite huge sums of funds budgeted for their construction.
Spoke person for the professionals Engr Patience Aningo in a paper entitled “A Warning Beneath Our Wheels , Nigerian Bridges Need Attention” presented to newsmen contended that if something urgent and decisive is not done to save the bridges , the calamity that may befall the county’s highways would be grave as it would equally affect socioeconomic status of the country.
“When they fail, the impact goes far beyond traffic delays; it affects livelihoods”
“The way forward is clear. Nigeria must shift from reactive repairs to preventive maintenance”
“A bridge that carries over 100,000 vehicles daily had been pushed to a point where urgent intervention
Structural Engineer in Heavy Civil Construction, specializing in High Performance Concrete and
if Nigeria is serious about development and public safety, then maintaining our bridges must embarked upon”
“But the deeper issue was even more alarming: a bridge
constant movement of heavy-duty vehicles. For example, the original River Niger Bridge,
documented without reliable data , Engineers cannot make timely decision and this leafs to small defects ”
“In September 2020, sections of the Third Mainland Bridge were shut down for emergency repairs on the
weight of bridge infrastructure”
“Across Nigeria, many bridges are aging under increasing pressure and they were built decades ago,for lighter weights but repairs are
often carried out only after visible damage appears cracks, exposed reinforcement, or surface
and accountability in project execution are essential” she noted .
Aninigo posited that;
“The core problem is not just aging infrastructureit but it is a reactive maintenance culture hence repairs
becomes a priority and not an afterthought”
“Construction quality and oversight also remain critical concerns”
“While Nigeria has skilled
Second Niger Bridge cost about ₦336 billion, reflecting both the importance and the financial
signs of distress is already too late”
“At the same time, stricter enforcement of engineering standards is important in order to arrest cases of deterioration”
By then, what could have been a minor fix becomes a major structural concern.
traffic, they now carry far heavier loads due to population growth, urban expansion, and the
The lesson from the Third Mainland Bridge is simple: waiting until infrastructure shows visible
professionals, project execution is sometimes compromised by poor supervision and substandard
Regular inspections, proper record-keeping, and early intervention can significantly extend the
materials.
“At the same time, the scale of investment required highlights the stakesprojects like the
intended capacity”
Bridges are allowed to grow into costly and dangerous failures.
could no longer be delayed”
“Hence after visible structural deterioration raised serious safety concerns. For millions of Lagos
safety”
“That incident was not an isolated caseit was a warning.
Routine inspections, which should serve as an early warning system, are inconsistent or poorly
Bridges are more than concrete and steel,they are lifelines that support economic activity and daily
Infrastructure Systems” she stated .
