In honour of the builders

Cruised down to Westhaven and under the Auckland Harbour Bridge before heading back up the hill and home. For some months I have been aware of this application of old photographs to the metal mesh surrounding the base of the bridge. Today, the light was coming from just the right angle to take this picture.

The first proposal for a bridge across Auckland Harbour was in 1860 when a floating bridge was suggested by a Ponsonby farmer; Ponsonby is currently an inner city suburb merely minutes from the central business district. Subsequently, new ideas were raised almost every ten years and in 1946 a Royal Commission recommended the building of a four lane bridge. In 1950 the Government passed the Auckland Harbour Bridge Act (1950), in 1951 the Harbour Bridge Authority was formed and planse developed.

In 1951 land was reclaimed from the harbour at Westhaven to use as a construction site. The Authority had to raise loans (guaranteed by the Government). A five lane plan with two six-foot footpaths and a railway crossing was rejected as too expensive; yet another example of the short sighted approach which has long been taken in Auckland to infrastructure development. A scaled down version of four lanes only was proposed, and accepted.

The foundation tablet was laid in January 1956. The first task was to prepare foundations on the harbour floor, a messy job done by teams working in compressed air dredging mud and slime. The bends was one of the many dangers faced by workers on the project. There were three deaths of construction workers during the building of the bridge. (Tribute has been paid to them in a plaque at Stokes Point, at the northern end of the bridge.)

The bridge links Northcote Point on the northern side to Point Erin at St Mary's Bay to the south. Sulphur Beach in the north, used largely by boat builders and fishermen, was greatly changed by the bridge construction, as the new motorway completely overlaid what was once beach access to Shoal Bay. Around one hundred home owners were affected by the building of a bridge over their properties. Some were bought out but many stayed and learned to live with the constant noise of traffic overhead. This is now a moderately sought after area to own a house because of ease of access to the central city.

Huge piers were built to support the bridge structure. From September 1955 six piers rose up out of the harbour from the Stokes Point side to Point Erin. By December 1956 they stretched across the harbour, ready to support the bridge superstructure. The base of the piers are 76ft by 46ft filled with 7,500 tons of concrete. Prefabricated sections of the bridge were built on top of spans already in place and then floated into position in the harbour on barges. The technique became known as the 'pick-a-back' bridge. The bridge was opened on 30 May 1959.

Here in NZ we celebrated two contrasting wins in the rowing from yesterday. The pair totally dominant throughout, and Mahe Drysdale showing the determination against a group of fierce rivals and great friends.

It's better large