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A lane into the city on the damaged Auckland Harbor Bridge was reopened Wednesday morning after the installation of an overnight temporary fix was successful.
Auckland commuters already faced long delays this week after damage caused by a freak accident on Friday when two trucks were hit by high winds, causing the closure of half of the bridge’s lanes.
The New Zealand Transport Agency said the lower half of the damaged 22.7 meter strut has been replaced with a “freshly fabricated” steel section.
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
There have been long delays to the bridge after the damage.
The temporary repair was completed after specialized bridge builders and engineers evaluated the damage, designed a new strut, and planned the repair before manufacturing the strut.
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* Harbor Bridge Closure – Work on a temporary fix to reopen lanes to start Tuesday
WAKA KOTAHI NZ TRANSPORTATION AGENCY / Supplied
Work was carried out overnight Tuesday to temporarily repair damage to the bridge.
Transportation Services General Manager Brett Gliddon said there were perfect weather conditions on the bridge overnight and progress was faster than expected.
“There was very little wind, good temperatures and visibility, which meant the team was able to install the new section and carry out the tests in one night.
“This temporary repair allows two additional lanes (one northbound lane and one southbound lane) on the central span of the bridge to be opened to traffic. The two outer clip-on lanes are also open, which means three lanes in each direction. “
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
The damage was caused by a gust of wind that blew onto a truck and hit one of the steel struts.
The lanes of the central section remain closed.
Gliddon said that while the lane reopening was good news, the bridge’s temporary prop is still in a compromised state and loads on the bridge will need to be handled with care.
“This will remain until the permanent solution is in place and the bridge can again support its full weight capacity.”
The agency is now working on a permanent repair of the damage that will cause all lanes to reopen.
WAKA KOTAHI NZ TRANSPORTATION AGENCY / Supplied
The temporary fix means that two more lanes on the bridge can be reopened Wednesday.
This could still be in a few weeks.
At 6:20 a.m. M., Traffic was already heavy on the North Shore and west of the city. Congestion was intense heading for the bridge from Forrest Hill.
People trying to avoid the bridge and using the western ring route meant that traffic was already piling up around Greenhithe, Hobsonville, West Harbor, and Massey.
Just after 7 a.m., the third lane heading into the city was reopened. Work is underway to reopen the third lane heading to the North Shore this morning.
How exactly did this happen?
At around 11 a.m. Friday, sudden strong gusts brought down two trucks as they crossed the bridge, Gliddon said.
One was on top of the bridge when it was knocked over by a gust and crashed into a steel beam, twisting the metal and cutting it where it connected to the bridge below the road surface.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
New Zealand Transportation Agency General Manager for Transportation Services Brett Gliddon is confronting the media over the closure of the internal lanes of the harbor bridge.
Gliddon said the wind was 60km / h before it shot out to a 127km / h gust before subsiding again.
“We were hit by an absolutely monstrous gust of wind that caught a truck that was right at the top of the bridge.
“That is really difficult to design.”
The beam did what it was supposed to do, cutting the bolts, rather than pulling and damaging other support members, with its load transferred to other supports in the steel truss.
New Zealand Transport Agency
New images of the damaged prop of the Auckland Harbor Bridge, filmed on Sunday.
The bridge is still able to stand on its own, but engineers are unwilling to allow traffic on the original inner lanes, which opened in 1959.
The two outer rails on each side, trimmed 10 years after opening, have their own support structure and are not dependent on damaged armor.
