Nigeria set to build Africa’s longest bridge

The government of Nigeria’s Lagos State has revealed its latest plans to build a 38 km road bridge across the Lagos lagoon.

Construction of the Fourth Mainland Bridge is expected to start this year, although agreement must first be reached with the residents who will be displaced by the project.

Once completed, the US$2.7 billion bridge will have four lanes and become part of a ring road that should considerably ease traffic congestion in and around the city.

The project will be offered on a BOT (build, operate, transfer) model, although the length of the concession is yet to be decided.

If the bridge is built in accordance with the designs of Nigerian architectural firm NLE, it will be almost twice as long as the next longest bridge in Africa, which crosses the Nile in Cairo and is a mere 20.5 km in length.