Auckland Harbour Bridge
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the 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 (NZTA). It is the second-longest road bridge in New Zealand, and the longest in the North Island.
Auckland Harbour Bridge | |
|---|---|
Auckland Harbour Bridge, seen from the North Shore looking toward Auckland City | |
| Coordinates | 36°49′46″S 174°44′47″E |
| Carries | 8 lanes of New Zealand State Highway 1 (as the Auckland Northern Motorway) |
| Crosses | Waitematā Harbour |
| Locale | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Maintained by | NZ Transport Agency |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Box truss |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 1,020 metres (3,350 ft) |
| Longest span | 243.8 metres (800 ft) |
| No. of spans | 9 |
| Load limit | 13 tonnes (13 long tons; 14 short tons) on outside lanes |
| Clearance above | 4.8 metres (16 ft) |
| Clearance below | 43.27 metres (142.0 ft) at high tide |
| History | |
| Designer | Freeman Fox & Partners |
| Constructed by | Dorman Long and Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company |
| Construction start | 1954 |
| Construction end | April 1959 |
| Opened | 30 May 1959 |
| Statistics | |
| Toll | Until 31 March 1984 |
| Location | |
The original inner four lanes, opened in 1959, are of box truss construction. Two lanes were added to each side in 1968–1969 are of orthotropic box structure construction are cantilevered off 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, and rail facilities as a big 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 more than 1,000 buses, which carry 38% of all people crossing during the morning peak.