The Cross River State Government has closed the Yellow Duke road at the major accident-prone culvert intersection leading to Musaha, Ekpo Abasi axis in Calabar South Local Government Area of the State.
The Honourable Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Pius Ankpo during a briefing with newsmen in Calabar, noted that it became necessary and as a matter of urgent public interest that the road had to be shut down for immediate rehabilitation at the instance of the executive council to save the road from further collapse which itself could have been hazardous to road users and residents alike.
“We have deliberated on this at the executive council and arrived at the decision to close this portion of the road for rehabilitation.
The Governor is very passionate about issues like this and will not allow a second pass without taking actions to safeguard lives and property.” he noted.
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Speaking extensively on the construction operations, the works Commissioner expressed concerns over designs that have been adopted by engineers which has resulted in a resurgence of the culvert failure after a short period.
“I have done an extensive analysis of the designs used by our former contractors and I don’t think they were proper considering the volume of water that passes through this point and the force.
What we are introducing here will rather be a mini bridge that will solve the problem once and for all”
“The public should expect that in 30 to 45 days we should have completed the road and officially reopen for use”
He also noted that this rehabilitation was going simultaneously with other culvert projects across the metropolis and one such is the Chamley Road culvert which was almost impassable.
