Tracking Shots
Flashbacks: New Zealand History on Film
Spanning the Waitemata
Built over the narrowest stretch of water – from St Mary’s Bay to Northcote – and out of the way of the Auckland Wharf area, the Auckland Harbour Bridge took four years to complete.
The four-lane bridge opened to traffic on 30 May 1959. Public anticipation was intense and huge celebrations were planned. Professional and home-movie makers alike devoted thousands of feet of film to the grand occasion.
Even before it opened the bridge could not meet traffic demands. In its first year 4.9 million cars crossed. This had risen to 10.6 million by 1966 and experts calculated it would reach capacity by 1970. In 1969 a further four lanes (2 in each direction), nick-named "Nippon Clip-ons" after the Japanese firm that constructed them, were added.
By the end of the 1990s the bridge carried a daily average of 150,000 vehicles and discussions on how best to meet the ever-increasing volume of traffic were again under way.
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