Blocks to be removed in harbour cleanup

The blocks were dumped near Auckland's Harbour Bridge in the 1970s. File photo / Dean Purcell

More than 100 tonnes of concrete blocks will have a new home tonight, after a cleanup of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour.

Ten blocks, weighing between 10 and 24 tonnes were dumped in the harbour at a popular fishing spot near the harbour bridge in the early 1970s and had been a constant source of annoyance to fishers and local residents, said the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

NZTA is working with Auckland Council and crane companies, which would use the country's largest mobile crane to lift the blocks out.

The removal was being co-ordinated and partly funded by the NZTA's Victoria Park Tunnel Alliance.

All previous attempts to remove the blocks were thwarted by the high cost and difficulty, NZTA state highways manager for Auckland and Northland Tommy Parker said.

The cleanup was due to begin at 8pm, and would take most of the night.

- NZPA