A milestone has been reached in the $130 million construction of the Tauranga's four-lane expressway.
Months of painstaking planning reached a successful conclusion this week when the first deck section of the duplicate Harbour Bridge rolled out of the casting shed.
A temporary steel nose kept the concrete deck from drooping under
its own weight, making it easier to ride over the crosshead on top of the first pier.
It took nearly all day for the 23m section of the deck to fully emerge from the shed and be maneuvered into the correct position - and the beers flowed after that.
Harbour Link project manager Kevin Reid said there was always a bit of uncertainty around the first launch out of the casting shed because each site was unique.
"It was a real milestone. All the planning was worthwhile and we got it right first time. We were really chuffed."
Mr Reid said there was a lot more to pushing out the deck than earlier bridge-building tasks.
"It takes a hell of a lot of preparation. It has been the focus of people's minds for months."
Now the first section was out and resting properly, attention has switched to casting the next section of the deck. When launched, it will shunt the first section forwards 20m until, eight months and 22 segments later, the first section to emerge out of the casting yard will reach its final resting place 460m away on the Mount side of the bridge.
Progress launching the deck relied on progress building the piers and crossheads. "There will be a bit of friendly competition."
Four of the bridge's 11 piers and crossheads have been completed, with the fifth crosshead poured this week.
The temporary construction jetty has begun to be shifted to the Mount side of the harbour to allow piling to start in the New Year for the last five piers.
Mr Reid expected all the piers to be build by next May and the bridge and 525m flyover opened by the end of March 2010.
"Fingers crossed we will finish before that."
