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A new permanent prop to replace the one damaged two weeks ago was successfully installed on the Auckland Harbor Bridge overnight.
The new strut was a major step forward in getting the bridge fully repaired and operational again, said New Zealand Transportation Agency (NZTA) general manager for transportation services, Brett Gliddon.
The southbound clipped lanes that were closed overnight to allow work to proceed will reopen at 9 a.m.
Once all night work has been completed, three lanes will be opened in each direction. However, the bridge would not yet be at full capacity and the two center lanes would remain closed.
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The new port bridge strut has been installed successfully, but must now be tensioned.
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Chris McKeen / Stuff
The closures follow damage that resulted when a freak gust of wind caused a truck to hit the bridge just over two weeks ago.
The NZTA continued to advise motorists to use the western ring route.
“Our engineering team now has more work to do to tension the new strut,” Gliddon said.
“This key component in this process involves redistributing the load capacity of the strut so that the weight distribution of the bridge returns to its pre-incident balance.
“This will include constant monitoring to assess how the entire bridge is performing now that the new strut is in place.”
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The new steel prop traveled in two pieces to Auckland on Saturday from Northland.
“As we’ve made clear, installing the new strut and rebalancing the bridge’s load capacity is a complex operation,” Gliddon said.
“Our bridge engineers, contractors and operations teams have worked extraordinarily hard over the last two weeks to find a solution, while innovating and responding in real time to keep traffic moving safely through the city.”
There will be a further update later on Sunday regarding the schedule for the next steps and possible additional lane closures in the coming days.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
At around 11 a.m. on September 18, a 127 km / h wind pushed the truck towards the bridge and damaged its structure.
