The Federal Government has inaugurated a N40 billion close circuit television camera centre for the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the surveillance facility was constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
Speaking at the inauguration on Sunday, the minister of works, Sen. Dave Umahi, said the administration inherited the Third Mainland Bridge and other key bridges in poor condition when it assumed office in 2023.
“When we came on board in 2023, we met a very terrible Third Mainland Bridge, Carter Bridge and Iddo Bridge, both on the pavement, surface, infrastructure above the water and even infrastructure below the water,” Umahi said.
He noted that President Bola Tinubu subsequently ordered a comprehensive review and rehabilitation of the bridges, including resurfacing of the Third Mainland Bridge and replacement of its expansion joints.
“The president, therefore, directed total re-evaluation and rehabilitation of the surfaces of the Third Mainland Bridge and changing the expansion joints.
“Lagosians were very happy with the President for that beautiful work, and that work completed and commissioned is still succeeding because of the quality,” he added.
Umahi commended CCECC for delivering what he described as quality work and disclosed that a boat and two Hilux vehicles, provided under the contract, would be handed over to the police to aid surveillance of the bridge.
“If they need to incorporate other security agencies, they can do that, but the idea of this project is that we have a lay-by on the bridge, so we view everything going on on this bridge,” he said.
The minister also expressed concern over excessive speeding by motorists on the bridge and urged road users to obey traffic regulations.
Earlier, the federal controller of works in Lagos, Olufemi Dare, described the facility as the first of its kind in the country.
“I doubt if there is any bridge in Nigeria that has what we have deployed here today, where you have CCTV to monitor both the underwater and even the bridge itself,” Dare said.
He explained that the project includes a surveillance boat, two Hilux vans, 240 solar panels, inverters, a 300 KVA transformer, a standby generator, monitoring screens, and a fully air-conditioned control centre.
“We have 240 solar panels in this environment, and that is not enough. The whole place is fully air-conditioned. We have 10 inverters inside the building.
“We have the powering units. We have a transformer, a 300 KVA transformer. We have a standby generating plant and monitoring screens,” he said.
Dare thanked President Bola Tinubu for approving the project and praised Umahi for ensuring that due process was followed during its execution.
“We have about 1,268 solar street lights that are part of this contract,” he added, noting that the project also includes a borehole.
He disclosed that the total contract sum for the project was N40.17 billion, out of which the federal government has so far paid N36 billion.
“This is the first level of commissioning. We are still going to come back here to do even the extension of the bridge, which is about to be completed.
“We pray that very sooner than later, we will come back to do a full-blown commissioning,” Dare said.
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