Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter bridge closed after second technical issue in two days

A key pedestrian bridge on Auckland’s waterfront has suffered an issue again.

Engineers are investigating a new problem with the Wynyard Quarter bridge on Auckland’s waterfront, prompting its closure again - the second technical issue in the two days since it reopened.

A spokeswoman for Eke Panuku Development Auckland said the bridge would open 7.30am today, “in line with our current operating hours”, saying the operations were paused last night to investigate the new issue.

“The project team investigated a sensor issue,” she said. “The safety of all users is our priority, so the bridge closed while the team worked to rectify this issue as quickly as possible.”

The Wynyard Crossing bridge was reopened on Friday after a lengthy nine-month closure that forced pedestrians to walk around it or take a ferry.

However, on Monday morning, the bridge suffered a malfunction with gates preventing anyone from crossing for 10 to 15 minutes.

And on Tuesday afternoon its operation was paused due to a sensor issue.

Lisa Franklin from Auckland Council’s development arm Eke Panuku said the bridge will remain closed while the issue is fixed as quickly as possible.

“When the bridge is closed, the spans legally have to remain upright to allow free access to marine traffic, a condition of the bridge’s resource consent,” she told the Herald.

“We have been closely monitoring the bridge’s performance since it reopened last week to ensure any minor teething issues can be dealt with as they arise.”

Franklin said the bridge would continue to operate between 7.30am-11.30pm daily.

The Wynyard Crossing bridge was reopened on Friday morning after a lengthy nine-month closure that forced pedestrians to walk around it or take a ferry.

“It will operate 24 hours a day again once we’re confident any issues have been ironed out.

“In the meantime, the red boat ferry service continues to run between the Maritime Museum and the Viaduct Events Centre from 7am daily.”

The bridge was intermittently out of action after it broke on November 17, 2023. It forced people to walk a 20-minute detour or use a ferry to cross the Viaduct Basin.

A week later, the fault was repaired and the bridge was reopened.

Then, on January 12 this year, another intermittent fault was discovered and the bridge was closed again.

It was fully closed in March.

The bridge, constructed at a cost of $3.7 million and opened in 2011, was built to raise and lower its span to accommodate boats passing below.

It has cost at least $10.6m to fix the bridge, according to an update from Auckland Council’s development arm Eke Panuku in October.

Wynyard Quarter business owners have welcomed the reopened bridge following the almost nine month closure.

Publican Tricky Hartley, owner of The Conservatory, told the Herald last week, he was incredibly excited about the bridge reopening.

“Business has been down about 60% since it closed. This has been incredibly hard for all of us.”

He said there ought to be some promotional work to inform people they are able to return.

Speaking about the disruption caused by the bridge being broken last year, general manager of the Park Hyatt in Viaduct Harbour, Brett Sweetman, told the Herald: “It is inconvenient for everyone.

“It’s impacting our colleagues coming to work, and they are getting complaints from our guests because they can’t access Quay St and Commercial Bay easily.

“It’s the main thoroughfare connecting the CBD to the Wynyard area and it’s been out of operation. Particularly at this time of year – it’s tourism season. We had cruise ships in last week, and all the businesses down here are being hit as a result [of the fault],” Sweetman said.

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