Auckland Harbor Bridge: Steel Strut en route to the city for permanent bridge repair

A shiny new steel strut for a permanent repair of the Auckland Harbor Bridge is on its way from Whangarei to be installed tonight.

The 22.7m prop is in two pieces and is transported on an articulated flatbed truck on the 160km journey to the bridge.

The strut has been fabricated from New Zealand made steel at Whangārei as a similar replacement and has been painted to match the rest of the bridge’s superstructure.

On September 18, a strange 127 km / h gust of wind flipped two trucks sideways, severely damaging a steel load-bearing prop, causing traffic chaos and paralyzing the city.

A second gust of strong winds that passed through Waitematā port at nearly 100 km / h caused further delays for motorists last Tuesday when authorities temporarily closed the bridge.

A temporary repair was made to the bridge on September 23 when the lower half of the strut was replaced with a new steel section.

The permanent prop will run from the bridge arch to the bridge deck.

Tonight the capacity on the bridge will be reduced while the works are carried out.

The four northbound and southbound center lanes will close at 5 p.m. to allow the temporary strut to be removed. At 9 p.m., the two outer southbound lanes will be closed until mid-morning tomorrow, closing all southbound traffic.

The southbound freeway at the ramps at Esmonde Rd and Onewa Rd will also close starting at 8:30 pm.

The only lanes that remain open on the bridge at night are the two northbound outer lanes.

Southbound motorists are encouraged to use the western ring route on SH16 and SH18 and allow more time for their journey.

The forecast is for good weather overnight, but if the weather is not right, the closings and installation will not go ahead and will occur on the first good night available.

Waka Kotahi Transportation Services General Manager Brett Gliddon said that once the new strut was in place, engineers would still need to lift the bridge deck and connect the new strut as load bearing for the bridge.

“This is by far the most complex part of the process because the bridge needs to be constantly monitored to see how it responds to the new weight distribution.

“This new tension will have to run, possibly over several nights, involving all the southbound lanes over the harbor bridge that will be closed from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am,” Gliddon said.

Trust that nothing has been left to chance.

“Checking and rechecking the weight bearing calculations and then having our detailed plan reviewed by overseas bridge experts. However, there is still a lot that needs to go right overnight,” Gliddon said.

He said the transportation agency thanked motorists for their patience and support in working as quickly and safely as possible to carry out a permanent repair on the bridge that will open all eight lanes.