The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the sum of ₦18.874 billion for repair work to be carried out on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents shortly after the FEC meeting which was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Fashola said the contract for the renovation works has been awarded to an Italian construction firm, Borini Prono, which was also involved in the construction of the bridge.

The Minister revealed that 33 piles of the bridge would be replaced and a total of 177 others strengthened in the first phase of the project.

He said the contract, which has a 27-month completion period and captured as “Bridge Renovation and Repair Contracts” in the yet-to-be-passed Appropriation Bill would also access the expansion joints of the bridge with a view to replacing worn-out ones.

He added that although the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan conceived the award of the contract in 2011, no budgetary allocation was made for it, hence the delay.