Bridge Collapse Separates Communities In Enugu

Physical interaction among the people of Ozalla community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State has been seriously disrupted following the collapse of a bridge along the old Enugu-Port Harcourt Federal Highway that links Ozalla with Agbogugu in Awgu Local Government Area of the State.

The bridge, which was washed away by heavy flood, also cut the strategic inter-local government road into two, following the collapse of an earth dam built by the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, thereby causing the Iyoro and Ufam streams in the area to overflow their banks.

Addressing newsmen shortly after inspecting both the collapsed dam and the bridge, the State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Godwin Madueke said the havoc caused by the flood created a big ditch measuring twenty metres wide and seven metres deep.

Engr. Madueke noted with dismay the effect of the collapse of the bridge on the social and economic lives of the people, adding that the State Government would take some measures to reconstruct the bridge and provide an alternative to reduce the plight of the people.

The commissioner, who was accompanied during the inspection by officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), also lamented that the collapsed bridge will affect the on-going rehabilitation of the Akpasha-Ozalla-Agbogugu-Ihe-Mgbowo-Awgu-Aninri road where more than forty kilometers of asphalting had been completed.

At the UNTH earth dam, where the Commissioner was conducted round by one Mr. Jan Odoh, he observed that although the design of the dam was not available, there were some fundamental structural flaws in its construction which led to its collapse barely one year after completion.

He, however, explained that government would soon commence discussions with the management of the hospital on how to avoid future occurrence.

Also in his contribution, the principal partner of the consulting firm handling the road rehabilitation project for the State Government, Engr. Nelson Onyemechi described the effect of the flood as very devastating”.

Mr. Onyemechi disclosed that the company had already started a study, the result of  which they would submit to government on how to tackle the problem.

He revealed that it would take an estimated N180 million to construct a double bridge to accommodate the volume of water that passes through the bridge and between N6 million to N8 million to construct a road diversion before the commencement of work.

The Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Josephat Offor , regret over the effect of the collapsed bridge on the social and economic well being of the people.

He explained that officials of the agency would visit the affected villages with a view to finding out the extent of damage and how best to assist them with relief materials.