Auckland Harbour Bridge back at 100 per cent capacity

Auckland Harbour Bridge has been restored to 100 per cent capacity, with all eight lanes now open, Waka Kotahi NZTA says.

Brett Gliddon, general manager transport services says the moveable lane barrier will also be back in operation overnight, so the lane configuration will be changed allowing for five southbound lanes to be open in time for tomorrow's morning rush.

"We know the last two and a half weeks have been frustrating for bridge users, especially at peak times and we are as pleased as everyone else that we have been able to repair the damage and get it operating at full capacity much sooner than we had initially thought," he said.

The bridge has been operating at a reduced capacity since September 18, when a freak wind gust of 127km/h toppled a truck and damaged a load-bearing bridge strut.

Tonight's reopening of all eight lanes follows an evening of hellish traffic for many commuters, with widespread congestion throughout the city.

Newstalk ZB's Timesaver Traffic earlier told the Herald the clogged motorways weren't due to one thing - just a lot of traffic on the city's highways.

Gliddon said a permanent replacement for the strut was successfully installed and tensioned to take its full weight bearing capacity again on Saturday night.

"We have been monitoring the new strut and its load-bearing function within the bridge superstructure over the last couple of days to see how the entire bridge has been performing with the new piece in place."

"The new strut is performing well and there has been no other damage to other parts of the bridge. That means the bridge can now function with all eight lanes."

Gliddon said he was grateful for the support and understanding of Aucklanders who have had their usual commute disrupted during the repairs.

"It's also been fantastic to see the way people have changed their travel patterns while the bridge capacity was reduced," he said.

"There has been a big increase in the number of people using public transport, especially ferry services. There was also a reduction of about 30 per cent in the number of vehicles crossing the bridge on weekdays during the morning peak."

Repairing the battered bridge was "an incredibly complex process with absolutely no room for mistakes", Gliddon said.

"Our bridge engineers, contractors and operations teams have worked extraordinarily hard to come up with a solution, while also doing everything possible to keep traffic moving safely around the city."