…calls on Fed Govt to fully rehabilitate the Benin/Sapele/ Warri road

…Udu bridge is okay for use

Delta State Commissioner for Works, Mr James Augoye

By Festus Ahon, Asaba

The Delta State Commissioner for Works, Mr James Augoye, yesterday announced the partial closure of the Asaba/Ilah/Uromi federal road, following the collapse of a three cell culvert due to the velocity of water.

Augoye who made this known while chatting with newsmen in Asaba, said: “It is no longer advisable for motorists to continue using the road. The section eaten by water is as deep as one meter.

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“We have informed the Federal Government about the development. But in the interim, we have contacted our contractors to fill the sections washed off by water. They will fill the eroded embarkment with laterite.

“We have also decided to close the lane that has failed, and there are diversions for motorists. We have informed officials of Delta State Transport Management Agency, DESTMA and Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC to be on ground to ensure non-usage of the closed section.”

Speaking further, he assured motorists plying Enerhen road in Warri area of the state that the Udu bridge is safe for use, adding that the concrete bridge built in 1970 by Dumex Construction Company did not fail.

Insisting that the bridge is very healthy for motorists, Augoye said when the disturbing report about the purported failure of the bridge got to his office, a team of engineers were dispatched to carry out integrity test.

According to him, “from the investigation, there is nothing wrong with the bridge”, saying that “the bridge is safe, the only problem is the hand rail which runs through the entire bridge. The rails will be vibrating when driving through. A section of it fell off which is resulting in the vibration because part of it is suspended for now.

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“Once we are done with the replacement, the vibration will stop. We are going to do a comprehensive rehabilitation of the rails to make it modern”.

The State Commissioner who was flanked by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, called on the Federal Government to urgently undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation of the Benin/Sapele/Warri highway.

Augoye said the palliative measures the state government was putting in place to make the road motorable is being overwhelmed by rate of failure of different sections of the road.

Vanguard News