Weather warning: Auckland Harbour Bridge could be closed at short notice

Potential gale force winds have transport authorities on high alert and they are warning motorists they may close the Auckland Harbour Bridge on short notice if necessary.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency gave the warning as a "weather bomb" builds in the Tasman Sea and prepares to barrel into New Zealand.

It threatens to bring heavy rain and gale force winds to large parts of the country.

Severe weather warnings and watches issued by forecaster MetService show nearly every part of the country coloured either yellow or orange.

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NZTA general manager Transport Services Brett Gliddon said while the South Island and East Coast of the North Island would likely take the brunt of the wild weather, authorities would take a conservative approach with the Harbour Bridge.

"Bridge managers receive constant reports on the wind strength from Metservice, and we will not hesitate to close lanes or even close the bridge for short periods if the wind gets up too much," he said.

"Closures may happen at very short notice. That may cause inconvenience and disruption, but safety comes first."

Auckland Transport said it would also be taking a safety-first approach by replacing double decker buses to the North Shore with single decker buses over the weekend.

The city's transport body said the weekend service were quieter so residents would still find plenty of available seats.

There are a number of watches and warnings in place across Aotearoa (New Zealand). See the maps below; full details at https://t.co/qHyE5zhh6X
^Tui pic.twitter.com/NKjOIvQOox

— MetService (@MetService) September 26, 2020

Motorbike riders and those in high-sided trucks or other vehicles were also advised to avoid crossing the bridge by using the Western Ring Route on SH16 and SH18 instead.

"Plan your journey, allow extra time and check our online journey site for up to date information on travel times and road closures," NZTA said.

Gliddon said there was a key difference between this weekend's actions and Friday a week ago when strong wind gusts blew a truck into a metal support strut on the bridge and toppled another truck on its side.

The damage caused to the bridge led authorities to close motorway lanes, causing massive traffic delays that brought much of the inner city's road networks to a grinding halt.

Gliddon said the earlier incident took place after wind gusts suddenly increased without warning from 60km/h to 127km/h.

The Harbour Bridge may be closed at short notice this weekend because of expected wild weather from Sunday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

"The difference this weekend is that we know that gale force winds are predicted. Last Friday was an extraordinary freak event with no warning or time to react. The gale force winds eased off as quickly as they came."

Earlier, the NZTA said sandbags and weights had been placed on temporary road cones along the harbour bridge.

Motorists were also urged to keep to the posted speed limit when crossing the bridge, and avoid changing lanes and distractions.

"We have tow trucks on the bridge approaches to respond quickly to crashes and breakdowns but any vehicle stopping on the bridge will cause huge disruption that can quickly spread across the entire network," Gliddon said.

Work is under way on designing and fabricating a 22.7m strut that will be a permanent fix for the bridge and will able to help bear the structure's load.

However, it will be weeks before the bridge is restored to full operation and all its eight lanes opened to traffic.