The Upper Harbour Bridge (also called the Greenhithe Bridge) is a motorway bridge in west

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand. It is technically two bridges, spanning an upper reach of the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

, and connecting Hobsonville (in West Auckland) and

Greenhithe Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located east of Dartford and west of Gravesend. Area In the past, Greenhithe's waterfront on the estuary of the riv ...

(on the

North Shore North Shore or Northshore may refer to: Geographic features Australia *North Shore (Sydney), a suburban region of Sydney **Electoral district of North Shore **North Shore railway line, Sydney *Noosa North Shore, Queensland * North Shore, New So ...

). It is an important connection for State Highway 18, and became even more important as a component of the Western Ring Route when the route was completed on 2 July 2017.

History

The original bridge was built in November 1975. Its capacity proved insufficient for later traffic demands of more than 27,000 vehicles per dayWork on Upper Harbour Corridor Begins
(official website of the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Monarchy of New Zealand, King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is u ...

) (soon to be up to 35,000 vehicles per day with the completion of the motorway works) and a duplicate bridge was constructed next to it. The new bridge was designed and engineered by Beca, and built between 2005–2006 by

Fletcher Construction The Fletcher Construction Company Limited is a New Zealand construction company and a subsidiary of Fletcher Building. Together with Higgins Contractors Ltd it makes up the Construction division of Fletcher Building. Fletcher Construction is wide ...

using self-compacting concrete. The new bridge cost NZ$35 million and provides a 524 m long, 16.5m wide, 10-span crossing. This was designed to match the existing 457 m long existing 7-span cantilever bridge aesthetically.Upper Harbour duplicate bridge
(from the

website) The bridges provide three lanes toward Greenhithe (an uphill gradient) and two lanes downhill. Prior to the first stage of the Upper Harbour Motorway opening, Transit NZ closed off the old bridge to make repairs, especially to reduce a sagging effect due to old tensioning cables. With the opening of the motorway on 6 December 2007 all bridge lanes were open.
New SH18 Greenhithe motorway opens up growth opportunities
' –

Transit New Zealand Transit New Zealand ( Māori: Ararau Aotearoa), which existed from 1989 to 2008, was the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand state highway network (10,894 km, about 12% of New Zealand's roads). It ...

, Media Release, Thursday 6 December 2007. Accessed 16 January 2008. The new bridge also provides a cycle-way and walkway on the north side. The bridge project, together with the causeway widening, has received a Silver Award from the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand.''Upper Harbour Bridge Duplication & Causeway Widening'' – ''Innovate NZ'', Brochure of the '2007 ACENZ Awards of Excellence', Page 19 The original bridge was in 1986 used by

A. J. Hackett Allan John "A. J." Hackett (born May 1958) is a New Zealand entrepreneur who popularised the extreme sport of bungy jumping. He made a bungy jump from the Eiffel Tower in 1987 and founded the first commercial bungy site in 1988. He is also the ...

for the first jumps testing the equipment for what was to eventually become the world's first commercial

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

company.

References

{{coord, -36.784903, 174.667801, type:landmark_region:NZ, display=title Upper Harbour Local Board Area North Shore, New Zealand Bridges completed in 2006 Concrete bridges in New Zealand Bridges in Auckland Waitematā Harbour