Third Mainland Bridge Lagos

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Was92now625
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Third Mainland Bridge Lagos

Post by Was92now625 »

Interesting article / set of pictures on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-55333365

Long Bridge, 11 km (6.8 miles). Comes from "the island" and approaches the coast of the mainland which then curves away. The bridge makes landfall on a (possibly artificial) headland where there is a junction and it then runs parallel to the coast for a bit before making landfall again. That in itself seems very interesting.

Topical because it is closed at the moment and that is causing delays. But last year, one carriageway was open and they made it 12 hours each way. They don't say what happens at 'changeover time'. Given that half the time, the traffic will be on the 'wrong' sliproads, changing over cannot have been a trivial task !
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Re: Third Mainland Bridge Lagos

Post by Chris5156 »

Was92now625 wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 18:39 Interesting article / set of pictures on BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-55333365

Long Bridge, 11 km (6.8 miles). Comes from "the island" and approaches the coast of the mainland which then curves away. The bridge makes landfall on a (possibly artificial) headland where there is a junction and it then runs parallel to the coast for a bit before making landfall again. That in itself seems very interesting.

Topical because it is closed at the moment and that is causing delays. But last year, one carriageway was open and they made it 12 hours each way. They don't say what happens at 'changeover time'. Given that half the time, the traffic will be on the 'wrong' sliproads, changing over cannot have been a trivial task !
Really interesting, thanks!

You can explore some of Lagos on Google Streetview and it's fascinating - there's three major expressway-type roads that run to "the island", with a grade separated ring road around the island itself, and some sprawling cloverleaf junctions leading in to the urban area within - but I can't figure out the shape of the city because there seems to be little inside the inner ring road. No particularly tall buildings, no evidence of densely-packed dwellings or commercial activity that would mark it out as the focal point of the city that all those major roads are serving - it is obviously packed with buildings and narrow streets, but the bit inside looks no different to any other part of Lagos. So I don't know where all that traffic is going or what it does when it gets there! But perhaps I'm looking for the wrong things, coming from the perspective of someone used to a European city.
Last edited by Chris5156 on Thu Jan 07, 2021 00:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Truvelo
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Re: Third Mainland Bridge Lagos

Post by Truvelo »

There seems to be some British influence even though they drive on the right. For example, these arrows on the road are the same as ours and the streetlighting looks familar even down to the heritage lighting used in the central area.

The other thing I've noticed is in the rural areas there is a police vehicle following the Google car.
How would you like your grade separations, Sir?
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Re: Third Mainland Bridge Lagos

Post by Alderpoint »

Truvelo wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 21:46 The other thing I've noticed is in the rural areas there is a police vehicle following the Google car.
That's normal for Nigeria - even through it's probably locals driving the GoogleCar it is likely to attract a far bit of attention.

I was in Nigeria for work some years ago and we were only allowed to used company-provided transport around the city; any travel away from the main Lagos and Victoria Islands required authorisation in advance and an accompanying security vehicle was required - including to/from the airport.

Nigeria's infrastructure was paid for by oil receipts, but as common in that part of the world the majority of the population have not seen much else of it.
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jackal
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Re: Third Mainland Bridge Lagos

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Chris5156 wrote: Wed Jan 06, 2021 20:58 You can explore some of Lagos on Google Streetview and it's fascinating - there's three major expressway-type roads that run to "the island", with a grade separated ring road around the island itself, and some sprawling cloverleaf junctions leading in to the urban area within - but I can't figure out the shape of the city because there seems to be little inside the inner ring road. No particularly tall buildings, no evidence of densely-packed dwellings or commercial activity that would mark it out as the focal point of the city that all those major roads are serving - it is obviously packed with buildings and narrow streets, but the bit inside looks no different to any other part of Lagos. So I don't know where all that traffic is going or what it does when it gets there! But perhaps I'm looking for the wrong things, coming from the perspective of someone used to a European city.
The CBD seems to be a narrow strip along one side of Victoria Island. If you head along this road you'll see several bank HQs starting with Sterling (the central bank and stock exchange are hidden behind them).
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