The 2nd Niger Bridge has been officially handed over to Federal Government of Nigeria by Julius Berger, the contractor who executed the project.
The Minister fo Works, Senator David Umahi on the occasion commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari for providing the needed support that led to the completion of the project.
He noted that the All Progressive Congress-led administration of President Tinubu has will deliver more projects across the country.
The Minister also commended the company, Julius Berger for delivering the project.
He, however, noted that some ancillary works which include completion of the interchange on the Asaba end of the road need to be completed.
“This will ensure that road users do not have to go through Asaba town where they will encounter traffic hitches before accessing the bridge”
He also noted that the Federal Government plans to concession the interchange works to investors who will recover their money from the toll plazas on the road.
He also said that Julius Berger and the Ministry of Works reached an agreement on the power supply issue on the road and bridge.
“We agreed that they will deploy solar system to tackle the power issue so that there will be constant light and this will improve security on the road”, he said.
Speaking during the handover, Managing Director of the Company, Lars Richter thanked the Federal Government for finding their company to carry out the project.
“We are very pleased to handover this project today to the client which is the Federal Government”, he said.
Director of Bridges Designs South East of the Ministry, Obioha Bede urged the people of the region to make judicious use of the bridge.
He also urged them to protect the facilities from being vandalized.
The Minister earlier inspected other ongoing projects in the region which include the Enugu-Porthacourt highway, the Enugu- Onitsha Highway and the collapsed New Artisan bridge Enugu.