Installation of the arched span over State Highway 1 will be followed by the installation next week of a second span over the rail line. The arch on the second span will be located underneath the walking and cycling deck.
The assymetric double arch superstructure was built at ground level on the project’s site. The 43m-long road span was then hoisted by crane some 35m into the air and on to the southern motorway, where two six-axle trailers transported it to its installation point at Dilworth.
It is being built by the NGA Newmarket alliance of the NZ Transport Agency, Leighton Contractors, Fulton Hogan, VSL, Beca, URS, Tonkin & Taylor and Boffa Miskell. The new bridge was designed by NGA Newmarket’s design manager Jon Varndell and structures manager Peter Lipscombe together with architect Jeff Wells.
Its shape is intended to reflect the neighbouring Mts Hobson and Eden, with the valley of Newmarket in between. For road users travelling north, the Dilworth Footbridge location is the first point from which they will get a view of Auckland’s central business district and Sky Tower.
