The message from the engineers and project managers assembled atop the Newmarket Viaduct comes across loud and clear: this weekend, drive in that area only if you have to. And if you do, expect long delays.
From 5pm on Saturday January 28, State Highway 1 will be closed northbound between
the Market Road off-ramp and Gillies Avenue on-ramp. It will reopen 8am on Monday January 30, Auckland Anniversary Day.
Acting State Highways Manager Steve Mutton estimates 65,000 cars will need to be diverted this weekend but says it's all part of a very worthwhile project for the city.
"It's hugely important to Auckland's economic growth."
Once achieved, the team will begin deconstructing the northbound half of the existing viaduct piece by piece.
Today The Aucklander was taken up for a look around. Having donned the full safety ensemble of steel cap boots, hard hats, gloves, vests and glasses, we rattle our way up a dozen flights of scaffolding stairs and pop out on top of the flyover.
We're standing on the middle section of the New Zealand Transport Agency's Viaduct Replacement Project. The smell of newly laid road is potent and we keep shuffling so as not to get stuck on the spot.
A giant bottle of sunscreen and an extension cord are sitting on what will be the buffer between the two flows of traffic. A big blue sign is tied to the gantry: 'Motorway closed this weekend' it declares to the cars whizzing by on either side. There are around 120 contractors working on the site and they're all filing down the stairs for smoko when we arrive for the site visit.
Two men are walking down the road with a tape measure stretched between them as they spray-paint guidelines for lane markings.
Mr Mutton says this stage of the project is being undertaken a couple of months ahead of schedule. '
"It's amazing that this bridge has been built right in the middle of a big city. [It] should set a new benchmark for infrastructure delivery in this country."
Senior project engineer Jackson Lingwood says it will take about seven months to take down the old section of the flyover and it will set a global precedent.
"We believe this is the first time in the world this type of machine (the gantry) has been used to deconstruct a large structure in an urban environment like this."
Project Facts:
- Duration: 49 months
- Cost: $125 million
- The new viaduct is stronger, safer and wider than its predecessor.
- It is almost 700m long and 30m wide.
- More than 160,000 vehicles use the viaduct daily.
Additional Closures this weekend:
- Market Road southbound off-ramp
- Greenland northbound on-ramp
- Ellerslie-Panmure Highway northbound on-ramp
- South Eastern Highway northbound on-ramp
More information and detour routes can be viewed at nzta.govt.nz/aklsummerseason or facebook.com/switchmyroute