The Tauranga Harbour Bridge refers to two bridges (the original two lanes wide, and the new three lanes wide) that carry Te Awanui Drive over the

Tauranga Harbour Tauranga Harbour is the natural tidal harbour that surrounds Tauranga CBD and the Mount Maunganui area of Tauranga, New Zealand, and which flows into the Pacific Ocean at Mount Maunganui. The harbour is effectively two flooded river systems sepa ...

. Te Awanui Drive is part of an expressway that connects

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

CBD to

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of Tauranga located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harb ...

. On the Tauranga CBD side, Te Awanui Drive connects to Takitimu Drive, which crosses the Chapel Street Viaduct before running along the edge of the Waikareao Estuary. On the Mount Maunganui side, Te Awanui Drive connects to Hewletts Road, which runs through an industrial area towards Maunganui Road.

History

The original bridge was opened on 13 March 1988 by former

Mayor of Tauranga The mayor of Tauranga is the head of local government in Tauranga, New Zealand's fifth-largest city. The mayor presides over the Tauranga City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the single transferable vote method. The current mayor i ...

, Robert Arthur Owens. Prior to the opening of the bridge, traffic wishing to travel between Tauranga CBD and Mount Maunganui had to use the Hairini and Maungatapu bridges. The Tauranga Harbour Bridge was tolled from opening until 22 July 2001. The tollbooths were on the Mount Maunganui side of the bridge. As the population of Tauranga grew, the bridge began to get very congested during the peak hours. As part of the Harbour Link project (which also included the construction of the Chapel Street Viaduct, the widening of Hewletts Road, and the construction of the Hewletts Road Flyover), a new bridge was constructed next to the original. On 7 September 2009, the new bridge opened. The original bridge now carries traffic towards Tauranga CBD; the new bridge carries traffic towards Mount Maunganui.

Causeway

On the Mount Maunganui side of the bridge is a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

which carries Te Awanui Drive and houses the Tauranga Bridge Marina. At the other end of the causeway, two parallel bridges, collectively known as Aerodrome Bridge, cross a small channel of water, and connect the causeway to Mount Maunganui. Until 2009, there was only one Aerodrome Bridge, and the road that ran along the causeway was only one lane each way. The road was widened and a second Aerodrome Bridge was built as part of the Harbour Link project.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Tauranga Concrete bridges in New Zealand Bridges completed in 1988 Former toll bridges 1980s architecture in New Zealand 2000s architecture in New Zealand Bridges in the Bay of Plenty Region