Viaduct Harbour Rolling Lift Bridge - Auckland, New Zealand
S 36° 50.510 E 174° 45.701
60H E 300416 N 5920335
From the 1930s to 1990s the Viaduct Harbour Rolling Lift Bridge carried rail and road traffic and was lifted to allow fishing boats into the basin.
Waymark Code: WMGGKF
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 03/04/2013
Views: 11
From the 1930s to 1990s the Viaduct Harbour Rolling Lift Bridge carried rail and road traffic and was lifted to allow fishing boats into the basin.
An interpretive panel on the bridge explains that the bridge was built in kit-form in 1931 by The Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company in Darlington, England.
According to the City of Auckland's website, it is more correctly described as a steel bascule rolling truss bridge. Originally linking the Eastern Viaduct and the Western, it was erected on its current site in 1932. The bridge spans a 14.5 metre gap over water, which was originally the sole navigable entrance to the Viaduct Basin.
Bascule bridges - both single and double - are common world-wide, with the best-known example of a double bascule bridge being Tower Bridge in London. However, the Auckland Viaduct Lift Bridge is believed to be unique in the Southern Hemisphere, and rare globally in this form.
The bridge was operable up to the late 1990s (1997 at least), although regular operation ceased in September 1993. The railway lines are believed to have been removed about this time, and the bridge deck asphalt sealed.
Bridge Type: Drawbridge (Bascule Bridge)
Built: 05/01/1932
Span: 14.5 metres
Pedestrian Traffic: yes
Bicycle Traffic: yes
Vehicular Traffic: yes
Railway Traffic: no
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Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the bridge and record the exact coordinates where the picture was taken.