Auckland Harbor Bridge clips have caused problems, but are now key for drivers

In their 50 years of existence, the Auckland Harbor Bridge clips have caused their fair share of headaches.

But today, without the clips, travelers wouldn’t be able to use the bridge at all.

In an accident on Friday, a truck veered sideways in 127-kilometer-per-hour winds, damaging the bridge’s superstructure.

The four inner lanes have since been closed for repairs and drivers have been relegated to clips for trips to and from the city, leading to long delays.

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The harbor bridge was built in the 1950s and originally had four lanes.

The plan, as set out in a 1946 Royal Commission, was for it to have five lanes of traffic, as well as a footpath and a bike path.

But the cost reduction meant it only had four lanes, and no extras, when it opened on May 30, 1959.

Graham Bush, who wrote the history of transportation in Auckland, listed the 1959 bridge design as one of the “10 biggest mistakes in Auckland’s history.”

“It had train, then light rail (trams) in the early versions, but it was reduced in an era of austerity; the money involved was ridiculously small by today’s standards, “he said.

“They agreed only with the minimum, it had to have two lanes in each direction in case there was a breakdown.”

Enter the clips, which were attached between 1965 and 1969. At that stage, traffic had increased to roughly 10 million vehicles a year, three times the amount originally forecast, meaning additional lanes were desperately needed.

The clips were made by Japan’s Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, cost $ 7.4 million and doubled the number of lanes to eight.

In 1970, Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge collapsed, killing 35 workers. It was designed by the same British firm, using the same new box girder technique as the Harbor Bridge clips.

Fifteen years later, an inspection of the Auckland Bridge revealed cracks in the box girder clips, initiating a two-year work program that banned heavy vehicles from the far lanes of the bridge and began a revision of the asphalt used in its manufacture. .

A 2006 report on the clips by Beca Group found that they presented great risks and if a large number of trucks got stuck there in a traffic jam, there could be a catastrophic failure.

At this stage, more than 60 million cars crossed the bridge each year, or 165,000 per day.

The following year a project was started to strengthen the clips. In 2010, when it was completed, the truck restrictions put in place to reduce vibrations during the upgrade were removed.

Today, 170,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day.

This week, transport chiefs have urged Auckland residents to take the bus or ferry to avoid congestion on the bridge.

George Wood, a former North Shore City mayor and Auckland councilor, said in 2019 that the bridge had made life easier for people in cars.

However, “I don’t know if it was that good for people using public transportation,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the public transportation system degenerated and the bridge didn’t make it that easy. We are still trying to recreate what we had previously. “

However, the use of public transport is increasing overall. Figures provided by the New Zealand Transport Agency show that in May 2019, more than 9,000 people crossed the bridge on 223 buses from 6am to 8am.

That was almost three times the number of people in 2,630 cars.

Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan said ferry use is increasing this week as people try to avoid the bridge.

Ferry passenger numbers jumped 85 percent overall on Monday, compared to the previous Monday.

The Birkenhead ferry saw the biggest jump, rising 284 percent, followed by Bayswater with 121 percent and Devonport with 106 percent, Hannan said.

Patronage on buses to and from the North Shore also increased by 5 to 10 percent.

“There is still space in all services and we even have some capacity in parks and attractions. The buses are there, they are frequent and there are seats available, ”Hannan said.

The bridge will likely remain the only link between the city and the North Shore for another two decades.

The long-debated additional port crossing, likely a tunnel perhaps dedicated to public transportation, is not scheduled to begin before the late 2030s.