All southbound lanes on the Harbour Bridge will be closed overnight tonight from 9pm to 5am.
This is so that Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency – Auckland (NZTA) can undertake a complex repair to temporarily fix the damaged strut bridge, and allow two extra lanes to be opened.
The temporary closure includes:
– Southbound lanes between Esmonde Road off-ramp and Hobson Street onramp (including the Auckland Harbour Bridge)
– Esmonde Road southbound on-ramp
– Onewa Road southbound on-ramp
If you need to travel south tonight, please use the Western Ring Route via SH18 and SH16 (viaUpper Harbour Bridge).

From NZTA:
“This temporary fix is a complex undertaking and has never been done before, so once the temporary replacement part has been installed the bridge team will have to do extensive testing on the bridge before opening it up to live traffic. This includes mathematical peer review by independent experts which we are doing in parallel to the construction of the temporary piece.
Once the temporary fix is in place there will be real life testing with heavy vehicles to ensure it performs to the necessary design specifications and requirements. Only then will a final decision be made about whether the temporary fix is suitable to allow the re-opening of additional lanes. Once that decision has been made, it is expected that two extra lanes on the centre-span of the bridge could open to traffic the following day.
In parallel, the team is working on a permanent repair of the damage to re-open all lanes on the Harbour Bridge, however this work will take some time and is weeks away from installation.”
Photo credit: Helitranz via NZ Herald.