Wynyard Crossing raised for boat 20 Dec 2021

Wynyard Crossing (also known as Te Wero Bridge) is a modern double

bascule Bascule may refer to: * Bascule bridge, a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span in providing clearance for boat traffic * Bascule (horse), the arc a horse's body takes as it goes over a jump * Bascule light, a sma ...

pedestrian and cyclists' bridge built in 2011 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It connects the redeveloped

Wynyard Quarter The Wynyard Quarter (historically also known as the Western Reclamation, Wynyard Point, Wynyard Wharf or Tank Farm) is a reclaimed piece of land on the Waitematā Harbour at the western edge of the Auckland waterfront, New Zealand. It is loca ...

with Te Wero Island and the existing

Viaduct Harbour Viaduct Harbour, formerly known as Viaduct Basin, is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront that has been turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants. It is located on the site of a formerl ...

entertainment district, and thereby, with the wider

Auckland waterfront The Auckland waterfront (rarely the Auckland harbourfront) is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously mostly dominated by Ports of Auckland uses, from the 2000s on it is becoming i ...

. The bridge is able to lift to allow watercraft passage into the Viaduct Harbour area, with a channel created by lifting two 22 m movable sections. At high tide, the closed bridge has a 3 m clearance and smaller boats do not require the spans to be raised. Opening and closing the bridge, which takes 90 and 60 seconds respectively, is controlled by an on-site operator contactable by boats via radio. The bridge was proposed after high costs (estimated at $50 million), combined with the Global Financial Crisis, prevented a more sizable structure (capable of carrying buses and trams) from being built in time for the

Rugby World Cup 2011 The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

. Instead, a less expensive walking and cycling bridge was constructed from prefabricated sections – though the foundations are strong enough to later bear a more substantial bridge capable of carrying public transport vehicles. The planned cost of the bridge was $3.5 million, and piling works started in January 2011. In April 2011, the first of the two 29-ton spans of the lifting bridge was installed. The bridge opened for the public in early August 2011. It is closed to cyclists and pedestrians when not supervised, as during

COVID lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

. The design for the larger bridge, chosen in 2008 in an international competition, would have been a lightweight aluminium, counterbalanced, cable-supported, twin-leaf, bascule structure, with a high mast. Planned construction dates of 2016 and 2020, have not eventuated, despite the temporary bridge having high energy costs and needing frequent and costly repairs. Funding for a replacement will be sought in the 2025 Long Term Plan.

References

{{coord, -36.841284, 174.759824, type:landmark_region:NZ, display=title Bridges in Auckland Bascule bridges Bridges completed in 2011 2010s architecture in New Zealand Auckland waterfront Auckland CBD