By KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

IKOYI and Falomo bound motorists from Lekki axis through Ozumba Mbadiwe can now heave a sigh of relief with the commissioning of the Falomo bridge on-ramp last week.

The construction of the link bridge commenced March this year. Before now, Ikoyi and Falomo bound commuters and motorists had been subjected to daily traffic bottlenecks especially at the intersection between Ozumba Mbadiwe and Adeyemo Alakija Street near Law School, Victoria Island, Lagos. But with the construction of the link bridge to the main Falomo overhead bridge which cost is put at whopping N2. 5 billion, the traffic bottleneck will be eased off.

The construction of the ramp which length is 115 metres designed to carry traffic from Victoria Island to Ikoyi westbound along Ozumba Mbadiwe and then northwards across the Five Cowrie Creek through Falomo Bridge, is part of the ongoing rehabilitation and upgrading of the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe Expressway, which is being undertaken by Lekki Concession Company (LCC) pursuant to a 30-year privately financed PPP concession.

In his remarks during the commissioning, Governor Babatunde Fashola emphasised continued commitment of his administration to develop more critical infrastructure throughout Lagos state directly and in partnership with the private sector. He added that the successes that the state has already achieved together with LCC are real life examples of what is possible using the PPP model.

“We know from our experience in working with the private sector on projects such as this, and with LCC in particular, the importance to invest in Lagos State. There will more of such projects in due course as we transform Lagos into Africa’s model mega city.

“From this bridge, we will improve travel time for vehicles traveling to Ikoyi from the westbound lanes of Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue who will now be able to do so by using the Falomo On-Ramp to access the existing Falomo Bridge directly, rather than struggle through the frequent bottlenecks at Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue and Adeyemo Alakija Street intersection and the ascend through the loop onto Akin Adesola Street before they are able to get onto the existing Falomo Bridge and onwards to Ikoyi”, Fashola said.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, LCC, Mr. Opuyo Oforiokuma noted in his address that the formal opening of the bridge is an important step forward in dealing with the traffic bottlenecks that have plagued the Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue end of the concession area.

Oforiokuma added that these bottlenecks which are caused by conflicts at the intersection of Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue and Adeyemo Alakija Street, should now be eased by the provision of direct access onto the existing Falomo Bridge via the new On-Ramp for Ikoyi-bound traffic motorists.

He stated that the new bridge is a post-tensioned continuous deck of approximately 115 metres in length, sited on five piers each resting on four piles, pointing out that the structure rests on a low abutment at the eastern end, and links with the existing Falomo Bridge on a cantilevered joint, resulting in zero forces being imposed on the existing Falomo Bridge.

Oforiokuma who explained that void former has been used to reduce the overall dead weight of the deck, by effectively removing concrete that has no structural in it, said the void former accounts for a reduction of over 880 tons, thereby reducing the overall dead weight to 2,650 tons.

Reduced load

According to him, the reduced load reduces tensile stresses which in turn reduces the amount of steel required as reinforcement, pointing out that this way, the up-to date structural design makes use of modern technology to reduce costs, improve the traffic flow and ensure road safety for all road users.

Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, Special Adviser and Director-General, Public Private Partnership in Lagos State noted that the accomplishment of the link bridge which is coming on the heels of the recent completion and opening of the Section 1of the road works to traffic, is a demonstration of the huge advantages of PPP.