"One side of the Sagamu-bound carriageway has been desilted; on the second side, work is ongoing."

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olukorede Kesha, on Wednesday, said cleaning of the drains on the popular Long Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, was in the process of curbing flooding.

Mrs Kesha told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the telephone that cleaning of the highway drain had been completed on the Sagamu-bound carriageway of the bridge.

She said the cleaning had continued on the Lagos-bound lane and would be completed in few weeks to tackle perennial flooding on the popular bridge.

The controller said that, in the next few weeks, the entire bridge would be free from all debris and blockades.

"If you travel on that bridge now, you will see that one side has been de-silted; it's a work in progress. We are still working to ensure that all other sides are disilted.

"One side of the Sagamu-bound carriageway has been desilted; on the second side, work is ongoing," she said.

Speaking on worn-out expansion joints on the bridge, she said they would be replaced after completing the ongoing reconstruction/rehabilitation project on the highway to reduce stress on road users.

"The expansion joints will be visited after this main reconstruction work.

"We do not want to increase the inconvenience that motorists are passing through at the moment.

"So, we want to be done with the reconstruction of the main pavement works, then we are going to revisit the replacement of all the expansion joints that have issues," she said.

The controller said efforts were on to ensure the highway was delivered in record time.

(NAN)