*Warns truck drivers to desists from parking on the bridge
By Francesca Hangeior
The Federal Road Safety Corps in Benue State has raised the alarm on the imminent collapse of the Katsina-Ala bridge following the insistence of truck drivers turning the bridge into a parking lot.
Katsina-Ala Unit Commander, FRSC RS 4.23, Terngu Adagba, lamented that several warnings on the articulated truck drivers to stop parking on the bridge were ignored.
Speaking with journalists in Makurdi, the state capital on Monday, Adagba said parking trailers with contents on the bridge could be dangerous and lead to imminent collapse.
The bridge links the North Eastern part of Benue State to Taraba and Cross River states and was recently rehabilitated by the Federal Government.
Adagba said, “For trucks, tankers, and trailers parking on the Katsina-Ala bridge, we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
“When these vehicles are stationary on the bridge for a long time, they have a negative impact, including deterioration, bridge fatigue, damage, or even collapse.
“An empty 20 feet tanker weighs 2,000kg, a 40 feet empty tanker doubles the kilogrammes. With an average truck weighing 14,000kg, the total weight of 25 stationary trucks on a bridge, for instance, could be around 450,000kg.
“It’s therefore not right, for trucks and tankers to park on Katsina-Ala Bridge because the bridge was not designed as a park for them.”
While calling on articulated truck drivers to henceforth stop parking on the bridge, Adagba said the indiscriminate parking of articulated trucks that has started along the Katsina-Ala Bridge could pose a danger to the bridge.