Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has affirmed that the construction of the multi-billion Naira Opebi-Ojota link bridge would be completed by June next year. Sanwo-Olu spoke at the completion of the first Pile Cast on the Lagos Opebi-Maryland Link Road bridge through his Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye. The governor thanked Julius Berger Nigeria for helping the state to actualise its dream of a better transportation network. He said: “What Julius Berger is doing here is not unexpected. They are known for good quality work. Like the Commissioner for Transportation will always say, what we have here is a collaboration between the Ministry of Works and Lands and Housing. “It is something that we thought about and decided that this was the best network that will work for Lagos. So, what Julius Berger is doing here is seriously bringing to fruition our ideas on paper. And so far, so good.” Explaining the basics of the Link Road project to Lagos State government officials, the Project Manager, Denysenko Dimitriy, said the first pile cap being completed is the first in a lot more to create a stable foundation for the bridge to be constructed on. He said it will offer a larger area for the spread of the concrete load that would eventually be on the piles. The Project manager also said that the project has been very challenging given its difficult terrain, “because all water from Ikeja comes through here before it discharges into the Lagoon.

“We are Julius Berger and we habitually, professionally deliver excellent strength and quality even in challenging topographies. This project is very important to the Lagos State government because of its unique utility, and we remain strongly committed to its accomplishment,” he said. The Ojota-Opebi Link Bridge, which is one of the legacy projects of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, is aimed at easing the burden of commuters and decongesting traffic in the Ikeja axis and on Ikorodu road by providing a direct link between Opebi, Mende, Maryland and Ojota to Ikorodu road, reducing the perennial traffic on Mobolaji Bank-Anthony way, and setting precedence for Ojota commuters to link the 3rd Mainland Bridge. The Link Bridge has a total length of 3.89 kilometres consisting of 2829 metre road length with 276-metre Deck-on-Pile Bridge and 474 metres mechanically stabilised Earth Wall approach sections. The project, whose construction is taking off 20 years after conception, is expected to link Opebi in the Allen Avenue area with Ojota and Maryland through Odo-Iya Alaro underpass. Sanwo-Olu at the flag-off ceremony last January said the project scheduled for completion in 2023, is strategic because of the huge traffic bearing capacity of the area, as it will help reduce the perennial gridlock along the Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Road that leads to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport