Auckland Harbour Bridge
Auckland Harbour Bridge | |
|---|---|
Auckland Harbour Bridge, seen from the North Shore looking toward Auckland City (2024). | |
| Coordinates | 36°49′46″S 174°44′47″E / 36.82944°S 174.74639°E |
| Carries |
|
| Crosses | Waitematā Harbour |
| Locale | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Begins | Westhaven |
| Ends | Northcote Point |
| Maintained by | NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | original superstructure: clip-ons: |
| Trough construction | Steel |
| Pier construction | Concrete |
| Total length | 1,020 metres (3,350 ft) |
| Width |
|
| Height | 64 metres (210 ft) from arch truss top to water |
| Longest span | 243.8 metres (800 ft) |
| No. of spans | 9 |
| Piers in water | 6 |
| Load limit | Clip-ons: 13.0 tonnes (28,700 lb) |
| Clearance above | Inner lanes: 4.8 metres (16 ft) |
| Clearance below | 43 metres (141 ft) at high tide |
| No. of lanes |
|
| History | |
| Designer | Freeman Fox & Partners |
| Constructed by | original superstructure: clip-ons: |
| Construction start | original superstructure:
• 1967 |
| Construction end | original superstructure:
• September 1969 |
| Construction cost | original superstructure: £7,516,000 (1959 value) |
| Opened | original superstructure:
|
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic |
|
| Toll | None (since 31 March 1984) |
| Location | |
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and the Auckland Northern Motorway. The bridge is operated by the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). It is the second-longest road bridge in New Zealand, and the longest in the North Island.
The original inner four lanes, opened in 1959, are of box truss construction. Two lanes were added to each side in 1968–1969 and are of orthotropic box structure construction extend as cantilevers from the original piers. The bridge is 1,020 m (3,348 ft) long, with a main span of 243.8 metres (800 feet) rising 43.27 metres (142 feet) above high water, allowing ships access to the deepwater wharf at the Chelsea Sugar Refinery, one of the few such wharves west of the bridge.
While often considered an Auckland icon, many see the construction of the bridge without walking, cycling, or rail facilities as an oversight. In 2016, an add-on structure providing a walk-and-cycleway called SkyPath received Council funding approval and planning consent, but was not built. In 2021, a stand-alone walking and cycling bridge called the Northern Pathway was announced by the New Zealand Government, but also was not built.
About 170,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day (as of 2019), including over 1,000 buses, which carry 38% of all people crossing during the morning peak.