Second big beam from Whangārei transported to Auckland bridge project

The second of two beams built at Whangārei firm Culham Engineering, above, for an Auckland bridge project is now on site after a two-day trip south. Photo / John Stone

A second giant beam constructed in Whangārei for an Auckland bridge project has made the two-day trip south, with eight more big beams waiting to be transported.

The second 52 metre-long, 100 tonne steel beam, fabricated by Culham Engineering for the Panmure/Ellerslie bridge project in Auckland, arrived on the site yesterday after parking up at Windy Ridge on Monday night following its slow trip south.

Culham Engineering managing director Rob Kirwan said the second beam didn't take as long to get over the Brynderwyns.

''It went really well. We learned a few things from the first one, and understand the road a bit better, and that made this easier and quicker.''

He apologised for any inconvenience, but said transporting the beams by road was the best way to do it: "they re too large to be handled by barge.''

Kirwan said the next phase of the project was to get more massive beams to the site, but the next lot wouldn't be as long but would be larger.

The next beams will be four metres high - about a metre higher than the first two.

''They'll be a bit shorter, but a bit higher, which means we will have to take them down (the Brynderwyns) sideways,'' he said.

He said the next beams should make the journey south overnight between February 17 and 23.

Kirwan said this was the largest fabrication work the company had done and may be the largest ever in the country, and Culhams was chosen due to its experience in large steel fabrication jobs.