Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of three bridges connecting

Lagos Island Lagos Island () is the principal and central Local government areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian ce ...

to the mainland, the others are the Eko and Carter bridges. It was the longest bridge in Africa until 1996 when the 6th October Bridge located in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

was completed. The bridge starts from Oworonshoki which is linked to the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway and Oshodi–Apapa Expressway, and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island. There is also a link midway through the bridge that leads to Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba. The bridge was built by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC. The phase one of the project was commissioned by President

Shehu Shagari Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (; 25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018) was a Nigerian politician who was the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by Military Head of State of Nigeria, military head of sta ...

in 1980 and completed by President

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August 1941) is a Nigerian statesman and military dictator who ruled as military president of Nigeria from 1985 when he orchestrated a coup d'état against his military and political arch-rival Muhammadu ...

in 1990; it measures about 11.8 km in length. By 2006, many commuters had reported that the Third Mainland Bridge was vibrating noticeably, indicating that it needed urgent attention. As a result, remedial work was commenced on portions of the bridge at different times, leading to intermittent partial closure of the bridge. In January 2013, this work was completed. Recently, there have been rumours of cracks on the bridge. This, however, was denied by authorities. The eight-lane bridge experienced a new look during the last repairing exercise, painting the bridge guide with the colours of Nigeria: green, white, green, and also general painting was done out for a new look. The repair works on the bridge were completed and the bridge was reopened on 30 October 2012. The Third Mainland Bridge has very high vehicular traffic on weekdays, as many residents commute to and from the Lagos Mainland to the Island, which is the commercial hub of Lagos State. Residents in

Ikeja Ikeja is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, cl ...

, Agboyi-Ketu,

Ikorodu Ikorodu is a city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the north-east of Lagos, along the Lagos Lagoon and shares boundary with Ogun State. With a population of over 1 million inhabitants, Ikorodu is currently the 12th largest city in Nig ...

, Isheri, Oworonshoki, Gbagada, Yaba, Maryland and Oshodi often use the bridge on their daily commutes. The Third Mainland Bridge is an essential part of Lagos' daily commuting, and as such requires to be constantly renovated. It has also come to be a major Lagos icon, offering different views of Lagos—the Lagos

Lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

, the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

waterfront and Makoko, a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

built on the Lagos Lagoon. On 6 July 2020, it was announced that the Third Mainland Bridge will be closed for six months due to repairs. The bridge was to undergo another round of repairs from Friday, 24 July 2020, to 24 January 2021, for the replacement of bearings and worn-out expansion joints. On 4 January 2024, The Lagos State Government announces date to close Third Mainland Bridge for complete repairs. Each phase lasted for six weeks. On 4 April 2024, the Federal Government of Nigeria reopened the Third Mainland Bridge.

Construction

In the 1970s, following the end of Nigeria's civil war, a period of increasing

oil price The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a Oil barrel, barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crud ...

followed and Nigeria went through series of economic upturns. A need for improved infrastructural facilities especially in the capital city of Lagos that had gone through a period of port congestion and then an upward tick in vehicular traffic created the impetus for a third bridge linking the commercial-oriented

with the growing urban settlements of mainland Lagos. The Third Mainland Bridge and its neighborhood

A contract was awarded for a third mainland bridge in 1976. Construction of the bridge was done in phases. The first phase was contracted to a PGH consortium, a venture consisting, Impressit Girola and Borini Prono, while Trevi Group provided support services for

piling A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site. A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from th ...

. The first phase was designed to be 5 kilometers in length, starting from the Island and ending at

Ebute Metta Ebute Metta is a neighbourhood of Lagos Mainland, Lagos, in Lagos State, Nigeria. History Ebute Metta is known for the production and sale of local food and cloths. It is a very old part of Lagos State, many of its houses were built during th ...

, towards Yaba. The bridge elevates to 3 kilometers above the water and made from pre-stressed

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

. Foundation piles had varying depths of between 36 and 54 meters and pile diameter is based on potential carrying road, diameters of 1500mm are used for the main bridge crossing the Lagos lagoon and for the

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving smal ...

and approach roads, pile diameter was between 800mm and 1200mm. The first phase was completed in 1980. The second phase from Ebute-Metta to Oworonshoki was awarded to Julius Berger in Nigeria.

References

{{coord, 6, 30, 00, N, 3, 24, 05, E, region:NG-LA_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Some certain articulated vehicles and trailers have been restricted from using the bridge. Bridges completed in 1990 Road bridges in Lagos Lagos Island 20th-century architecture in Nigeria