Auckland Harbour Bridge: Motorists told to work from home or avoid damaged bridge as urgent repair works continue

Sunday, 20 September 2020

A passenger captured the moment a truck almost toppled on Auckland's Harbour Bridge on September 18.

Aucklanders are being urged to work from home, use public transport, avoid peak times and allow extra time for travel after the harbour bridge was damaged.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency senior journey manager Neil Walker said congestion was heavy on the weekend on the bridge, surrounding state highways and local roads since the incident on Friday.

Bridge usage is at half capacity with four lanes closed and only two clip on lanes in each direction open.

A strut on the Auckland Harbour Bridge was left significantly damaged and detached on one end after it was hit by a truck.

The knock-on effect to Auckland’s already-troubling traffic has been massive, Walker said.

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Traffic heading over the Auckland Harbour Bridge from the CBD has been limited to 2 lanes because of damage to the bridge.

“We ask people to consider working from home if possible or using public transport instead of taking the car.

“If you must travel, avoid peak times in the morning and evening and allow extra time for your journey.”

Urgent repairs are being undertaken on the bridge after the significant damage from Friday’s incident.

Two trucks were caught up in a 127 kilometre per hour wind gust about 11.10am on Friday.

Video footage of the incident captured by motorists showed the vehicles nearly blown over and its drivers escaping to safety.

Walker said the damage to the bridge’s infrastructure has been significant.

A temporary fix to re-open lanes may be possible in a few days but a permanent repair is weeks away.

Auckland motorway’s gridlocked on Friday, after two trucks crashed on the bridge.

“We’re working on both and working as quickly as we can.”

He said some motorists were choosing the Western Ring Route and SH16, SH18 and SH20 to travel and strongly encouraged those who do have to travel, especially heavy and freight vehicles, to use it.

The Northern Busway will still operate and buses are safe to use the clip on lanes on the bridge, however traffic may cause delays, he said.

Urgent Repair Work

A team of nine structural engineers are working on removing and replacing the strut which weighs about four tonnes, and is 22.7 metres long.

That includes modelling how to re-balance its load-bearing function so that it’s safe to incrementally re-open lanes on the centre span with a temporary fix in place.

Fabrication of the replacement parts for the temporary and permanent fixes is also under way.

Bridge engineers have completed safety inspections on the bridge, assessing how to repair or replace the damaged load-bearing upright strut hit by one of the trucks.

The strut is important to the structure of the bridge as it helps support its weight.

Engineers have also checked if other struts were damaged, given they’ve had additional load transferred to them. The sheared end of the damaged strut has been temporarily bolted back on to the bridge.

While the damaged component of the structure is important, there is no risk to the structural integrity or overall safety of the Harbour Bridge. The north and southbound clip-on lanes are safe to use as they have their own supporting structure, NZTA said.

“We thank motorists for their ongoing patience with the inconvenience and disruption caused by the lanes closure. We’re working to ensure the bridge can be back in operation as quickly as possible,” Walker said.

On average, more than 170,000 vehicles cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge on weekdays, with the configuration of the eight lanes changed four times a day to adjust to peak time traffic flows.