Infrastructure

Chinese Group Wins Bid for $2.5bn Fourth Mainland Bridge

CCECC-CRCCIG has won preferred bidder status for the project.

Updated on

January 18, 2023

An impression of the Fourth Mainland Bridge. (Photo: Office of PPPs Lagos)

Lagos State has picked a Chinese-led consortium as the preferred bidder for a proposed bridge that links Lagos City with Lagos Island – pushing forward plans for the much-delayed project.

The CCECC-CRCCIG consortium, led by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has won the deal, while a group made up of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), China Road & Bridge, and Portuguese builder Mota-Engil, in which CCCC holds a 32% stake, is the reserve bidder.

The successful bidder will be tasked with the construction of a green field tolled road and bridge, three toll plazas, nine interchanges, and a 4.5km lagoon bridge.

The 38km Fourth Mainland Bridge, which was proposed in 2006, is intended to ease congestion on the existing 11.8km Third Mainland Bridge.

Running along the western side of the lagoon, the Third Mainland Bridge has become severely congested due to the rising traffic levels between the city and the island, thus necessitating the creation of an alternative connection.

The Fourth Mainland Bridge will run across Lagos Lagoon via Lekki.

According to Ope George, who advises the governor of Lagos State on public-private partnerships, the Fourth Mainland Bridge project is intended to reduce “severe congestion” on the Third Mainland Bridge, which was built in 1990.

Construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge, whose budget is estimated at $2.5 billion, was expected to begin in 2017. However, the project was held up as the government scouted for the best route through the densely populated city.

Lagos State had earlier said that more consideration and transparency was needed due to public-private partnership funding, which held up the bidding process.

On completion, Fourth Mainland Bridge will become the longest bridge in Africa ahead of the 6th October Bridge – a 20.5km bridge built on River Nile in Cairo, Egypt.

A design for the proposed bridge was produced by Ohio-based Advanced Engineering Consultants (AEC) and takes the form of a box girder.

Other entities that contributed to the planning of the project include Nigerian consultant NLÉ Works, WPP-ParsonsBrinckerhoff of Canada, UK consulting engineers Mott MacDonald and Rendel, and Dutch engineer Royal HaskoningDHV.

Construction is scheduled to begin this year, with completion set for 2027.