Following an incident of a failed box culvert at Chime Avenue by New Haven junction, Enugu, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has paid a prompt visit to the site, directing the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Greg Nnaji, whose ministry has already commenced the reconstruction of the culvert, to ensure that the project is completed in three weeks.
Speaking to newsmen immediately after the governor’s visit, the works’ commissioner explained that the Chime Avenue road, which was built over 16 years ago by one of the past administrations in the state had “a box culvert failure at the centre lane of the dual carriage way”, adding that “a quick intervention” has been carried out by his team.
Engr. Nnaji disclosed that the excavation of the failed box culvert had commenced and the ministry has a plan to mitigate the problem in less than three weeks as directed by the governor.
According to him, “we are taking due diligence, engineering application from Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to restore this particular culvert to a good standard that will equally sustain the infrastructure we have”.
On the governor’s concern, the commissioner stated: “The concern of His Excellency is very apt at this time. He has the passion for the people of Enugu State. He has come to find out on the spot what is happening to this road.
“In his usual character, he has given a very serious instruction, a very Executive instruction for that matter, that we restore this road for people to use in three weeks. He just left here and I am going to follow up that instruction to ensure that it is met.
On the message to the road users, Engr. Nnaji said: “We are advising road users to be patient with us. Concrete pullout is not something you will do overnight. In about three weeks, we will open this road and we have taken all precautionary and safety measures to ensure that there is diversion.
“There are caution signs to caution people, there are reflectors. We will ensure that even at night, we get bigger reflectors to ensure that motorists do not pass here.
