The Upper Harbour Bridge or Greenhithe Bridge is a motorway bridge (technically two bridges as of 2006), which spans over a reach of the Waitemata Harbour

Waitemata Harbour

The quite famous Waitemata Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is only one of two harbours surrounding the city, and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The Waitemata forms the north...

 and connects Hobsonville

Hobsonville

Hobsonville is a former Royal New Zealand Air Force airfield which are currently being redeveloped as a new suburb of Auckland, in the area of the former Waitakere City, New Zealand...

 (in Waitakere City) and Greenhithe (in North Shore City), New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

It is also an important connection for State Highway 18, which will become even more important once the Western Ring Route

Western Ring Route

The Western Ring Route is a motorway system being constructed in Auckland, New Zealand. It runs along three existing state highways: the Southwestern Motorway , the Northwestern Motorway and the Upper Harbour Highway . When finished it will surpass the Southern Motorway to become the longest...

 is finished (likely to be in the 2010s).

History

The original bridge was built in the 1970s. This proved insufficient for modern traffic demands of over 27,000 vehicles per day (soon to be up to 35,000 vehicles per day with the completion of the motorway works) and a duplicate bridge was constructed next to it. The new bridge was designed and engineered by the Beca Group

Beca Group

' is one of the largest employee-owned engineering and related consultancy services companies in the Asia-Pacific. While it is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, Beca operates from three main hubs: Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Beca has over 2,400 employees in total, many of them...

, and built between 2005-2006 by Fletcher Construction

Fletcher Construction

Fletcher Construction Limited is a leading New Zealand construction company. It is owned by Fletcher Building Limited and has three main divisions:*Building and interiors *South Pacific...

 using self-compacting concrete. The new bridge cost NZ$ 35 million and provides a 524 m long, 16.5m wide, 10-span crossing. This was designed to match the existing 457 m long existing 7-span cantilever bridge aesthetically.

Both bridges together provide three lanes towards Greenhithe (an uphill gradient) and two lanes downhill. Prior to the first stage of the Upper Harbour Motorway opening, Transit NZ

Transit New Zealand

Transit New Zealand was, from 1989 to 2008, the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand State Highway network...

 closed off the old bridge to make repairs, especially to reduce a sagging effect due to old tensioning cables.
With the opening of the motorway on December 6, 2007 all bridge lanes are now open. The new bridge also provides a cycle-way and walkway on the north side.

The bridge project, together with the causeway widening, has received a Silver Award from the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand

Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand

The Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand is New Zealands main business association representing engineers providing consultancy services in a wide range of disciplines...

.

The original bridge was in 1986 used by A. J. Hackett for the first jumps testing the equipment for what was to eventually become the world's first commercial bungee jumping

Bungee jumping

Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...

company.