Auckland Harbour Bridge

Story

The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane box truss motorway bridge over the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and the Auckland Northern Motorway. The bridge is operated by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA). It is the second-longest road bridge in New Zealand, and the longest in the North Island.It is 1,020 m (3,348 ft) long, with a main span of 243.8 m, rising 43.27 m above high water, allowing ships access to the deepwater wharf at the Chelsea Sugar Refinery, one of the few such wharves west of the bridge, the proposed Te Atatu port not having been built.While often considered an Auckland icon, criticism has included the nickname of 'coathanger' due to its shape, and complaints that it mimics the Sydney Harbour Bridge in copyist fashion. Many see the construction of the bridge without walking, cycling, and rail facilities as a big oversight. However, in 2016, "SkyPath" an add-on structure providing a walk-and-cycleway received Council funding approval and planning consent.