KEY POINTS:
A new walkway on the outside of the Fergusson Wharf container terminal, overlooking the Waitemata Harbour, has opened to the public.
The new 3m wide, 400m long walkway was officially opened by Auckland City Mayor John Banks, Auckland Regional Council Chairman Mike Lee and Ports of Auckland managing director Jens Madsen on March 30.
The lime chip walkway is lined with pohutukawa trees and has two viewing platforms where people can "enjoy the cool sea breeze" and understand why Waitemata means "sparkling waters".
There is also rumoured to be excellent fishing from the end of the walkway.
The walkway, which took three years to complete, is part of a 5.8ha reclamation extension of the port company's Axis Fergusson container terminal. The reclamation, claimed to be New Zealand's largest recycling project, reused over 850,000 million tonnes of marine mud.
Some 600,000 tonnes of this was environmentally friendly fill (mudcrete) from the deepening of the Rangitoto Channel shipping lane.
Madsen says the recycling avoided disposal of the dredgings at sea and removed the need to draw on the city's scarce quarry rock for fill.
"We have worked to give to the city of Auckland a gift, which is community and environmentally enhancing," he said.
"It provides the public with the opportunity to view the spectacular harbour alongside our busy, commercial port."
The waterfront walkway can be easily accessed via a short footpath link from Tamaki Dr.
