Subscribe to RSSSH20′s New Footbridge Support Being Erected - Photos
Motorists using the SH20 drive to work may spot something big and new this morning.
This 35-metre steel pylon was being erected overnight at the site of the new Beachcroft Avenue foot bridge over the Southwestern Motorway (SH20) at Onehunga.
The pylon supports a new cable-stayed foot bridge that is expected to become a landmark on Auckland’s planned Western Ring Route.
Thanks James for the overnight photos.
BACKGROUND: The mighty steel pylon
10 Comments
What an eyesore. It looks just like a power pole (which Onehunga has plenty of) with awful trusses through it. My house overlooks the motorway and now we have to put up with this. Surely a smaller pole would have been adequate. But I guess the designers dont have to see it every day from their own house.
Right now it looks a bit out of place - the whole area is such a mess, and it is very tall. But with the new beach projects happening on the foreshore and everything tidied up I’m looking forward to the bridge being a part of the landscape. It’s height is the reason the bridge is being replaced as the current one doesn’t have enough clearance above the new outside lanes. I’d imagine that the height would be a strong cost constraint and it’d only be as tall as needed to achieve that clearance.
Ian I would probably suggest waiting until it is finished before passing judgment. The other new pedrestrian brigdes along the route (and SH18) all look quite nice.
Also, I strongly assume that it will have harp-shaped suspension cables to the future bridge running out of it. So while it may be a bit dominant (couldn’t say from these photos), it will look a lot nicer once the bridge is done.
As I said, most people dont have to wake up to it everyday. Nor will they generally see the full crossection, which looks just like a power pylon with truss structures.
I will look better than most structures built over the motorway
“As I said, most people dont have to wake up to it everyday.”
I wake up to bulk of the Auckland Hospital bulk every day. Ugliest building ever built, especially after the razed the nice Italianate one that used to be there loooong ago. I think there’s a few things one has to live with in a city…
It look REALLY REALLY Good from up close, and will look even better once the trusses go up. An icon for Auckland City and good way to encourage passing traffic to use the footbridge themselves. I’ve never seen a power pole look so good.
BTW, the trusses which will go up at the end of the month will complete the bridge, just hold off on those comments before you see the whole thing. Its starting to look like a International Footbridge rather than our normal basic bridges.
Also it was designed as a feature, and with the widened motorway, on and off-ramps the Pylon does need to be big enough to restrain the load which is not small, and besides at least you don’t have to look at one of the ugly cable stays up the road on the Fulton’s project.
Totally agree Joshua, I was there just after they’d lifted it and with a small collection of other locals watching we all thought it was pretty cool. A credit to Onehunga - just shows how much the place is changing at the moment.
There was a gentleman there from TOES too - nice work people on helping to enhance the plan for the motorway’s surrounds.
“There was a gentleman there from TOES too – nice work people on helping to enhance the plan for the motorway’s surrounds.”
I though TOES was pretty pissed off with NZTA recently, stuff like the fencing and landscaping being totally underwhelming compared to NZTA’s plans they showed them a while back?