REPORTER: KINGSLEY ODO
The Federal government has intensified the construction of Ndibe Beach Bridge and Afikpo-Onueke Highway in Ebonyi State with te contractors handling the two projects promising to deliver them in a record time.
They are part of a section of the Super Highway Project embarked upon by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to link Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road with South East, North Central and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Corridors.
When completed, the six hundred and forty eight metre Ndibe Beach Bridge involving twelve to sixteen piers will not only connect Afikpo Local Government Area in Ebonyi State and Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State but will also facilitate a major economic and transport passageway from Cross River, Ebonyi, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa to Abuja measuring four hundred and seventy seven kilometres.
Providing insight into the project design, the Federal Controller of Works in Ebonyi State, Mr Steve Oluwadun explained that it had reached fifty percent completion with plans underway to launch beams on some of the completed columns.
The Council Chairman of Afikpo, Chief Timothy Nwachi said the people of the area were happy over the progress of work emphasizing that the bridge would unlock the economic potential of Afikpo State when completed.
For his part, the Chairman Ebonyi State Founding Fathers, Chief Hyacinth Ikpo explained that several administrations in the country had in the past fifty years promised to construct the bridge but to no avail and appreciated President Tinubu for initiating the project which would end the use of canoe to cross to the other side of the river.
A representative of the firm handling the bridge project, Mr John Otu said with the support of the people and the government, the project would be delivered as specified.
For the Super Highway project, Radio Nigeria observed that work was on going from Ndibe Beach to Eke Market Afikpo and from Amasiri junction to Onueke in Ezza South with the Project Manager, Mr Muhammed Musta assuring that casting of continuously reinforced concrete pavement and construction of bridges on the section would be completed by December this year.
