Section 1 of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway 40% completed
The Section One of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Project is 40 per cent completed, an official said on Wednesday.
The Project Supervisor, Kayode Ibrahim of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, made the confirmation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
The section, which extends from Ojota in Lagos to the Sagamu Interchange in Ogun, was awarded to Julius Berger.
NAN correspondents, who monitored the reconstruction on Wednesday, report that work is going on simultaneously on the various sections from Ojodu Berger to the Sagamu Interchange.
Workers were removing stock piles of asphalt from some portions of the highway between Kara and Wawa.
Assorted equipment was being used at the Mountain of Fire Camp and the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Camp axis of the expressway and other adjoining areas.
Drainage channels were being constructed near the NASFAT Camp axis.
Julius Berger is also laying macadam from the Assemblies of God Camp to RCCG Camp on the Lagos-Bound carriageway.
At the Ileke Town area, crash barriers were used to demarcate the median with fresh asphalt overlays on both carriageways, leading to a major U turn, opening up diversions to traffic on both bounds.
Ibrahim, an engineer, told NAN at the site that Julius Berger did not stop work on the site in December.
“Some people did not leave site at all; some only observed the public holiday and returned on Jan. 3; work is progressing and is about 40 per cent completed.
“We are digging the road deep around RCCG because the road is bad, and we have to remove all the bad materials so that we can carry out long lasting repairs.
“We are also using 40cm stone base, 15cm macadam, then 10cm of asphalt to make the road strong. This construction is expected to last for 50 years.
“There is no road in Nigeria that is using this standard for construction, but we have introduced this macadam base here because of the high axle load on this highway,” he said.
Ibrahim told NAN that some of the construction elements were being produced at the Julius Berger yard and brought to site for installation to speed up work.
He added that adequate crash barriers and warning signs were being used around the construction zones to ease traffic and prevent accidents.