Skip to main content

Planning works start for a second Niger Bridge

The Federal Government of Nigeria gave the go-ahead for work to start on the planning and design of a new Niger bridge. The country’s leaders have approved a US$2 million (Nigerian Naira N325 million) “transactional advisory services” contract to assess how to design and build, finance and operate a “Second Niger Bridge.” Contractor Roughton International Limited has been given 16 months to come back with a detailed schedule of how to progress.
August 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The Federal Government of Nigeria gave the go-ahead for work to start on the planning and design of a new Niger bridge.

The country’s leaders have approved a US$2 million (Nigerian Naira N325 million) “transactional advisory services” contract to assess how to design and build, finance and operate a “Second Niger Bridge.” Contractor 6395 Roughton International Limited has been given 16 months to come back with a detailed schedule of how to progress.

At the same meeting, the Nigerian government also gave Roughton International the green light on a $1.9 million (N297 million) consultancy contract for a new road into Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

The “Second Niger Bridge” project is likely to be built using a public-private partnership arrangement said the country’s minister of works, Mike Onolememen, at the end of this week’s weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by president Goodluck Jonathan. The minister told local reporters that he “expected” that “ground-breaking” work would “start by the third quarter of 2013.”

According to Onolememen, “the Federal Government” is keen to “address Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit and improve the quality of public infrastructure services.” The public-private approach will be used to speed up this process he said, and the country will exploit “private sector investment” opportunities in order “to complement the drive towards bridging the country’s enormous infrastructure gap.”

“In view of this,” he added, “the Second Niger Bridge - which is a critical national infrastructure project – will form an essential link between the south west and south east (of Nigeria) and connect the cities of Onitsha and Asaba.”

The government has also decided to act on the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road plan because the current highway is in a “deplorable condition” and it wants to create a new and much more impressive “gateway to Nigeria and Lagos.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Boom in Asian infrastructure investment
    April 5, 2012
    Investment in China and India continues unabated, but other nations on the continent are eager to attract companies as Patrick Smith reports Asia is still booming despite the current economic crisis, and new infrastructure programmes are constantly coming on stream. Powerhouses China and India, with their double-digit growth figures and huge infrastructure plans (in scope and cost), are leading the way and are still magnets for businesses wishing to expand, both in terms of facilities and customers. But oth
  • Webuild proposes Baltimore Bridge design
    May 6, 2024
    VIDEO: The project in the US state of Maryland to replace the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge was made free of charge ahead of tomorrow’s state-led virtual industry forum for reconstruction of the bridge.
  • Residents near Mersey Gateway Bridge to get up to 300 free journeys a year
    December 12, 2013
    Halton Borough Council has revealed that all eligible residents within the North West England borough will receive up to 300 free journeys per year when the new Mersey Gateway Bridge between Runcorn and Widnes and the current Silver Jubilee Bridge become tolled in 2017. The scheme, expected to revitalise an area hit hard by the ongoing tough European economic climate, was approved at a full Halton Borough Council meeting last night (11 December 2013).
  • We're here to help
    July 16, 2012
    Formed at the end of the Cold War, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has raised, and loaned, billions to revitalise infrastructure from central Europe to central Asia as Patrick Smith reports One of the highlights of the year for Thomas Maier has been the recent trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where history was made. As the Business Group director in charge of the infrastructure sector at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) he was present when contract