Sturges Rd Railbridge Is Cracked (Photos)

Henderson’s Sturges Road rail bridge is clearly cracked.
The old bridge was built in 1940 by the government NZ Railways department so steam trains could cope with the gradient.

CRACKED: Crack shown above is on the far right

Improvements are also needed to provide 60cm more clearance for electrification and for the double track underneath.

Preparation work has begun for the construction of a new bridge – but the local council, Waitakere, will have to shoulder most of the cost – unlike the situation in posher Newmarket where Kiwirail paid for all of it.
For a new Sturges Rd bridge, Kiwirail tops up the cost with only $2m while Waitakere council has to find three-quarters or so of the rest.

The old bridge will be demolished sometime in the first few weeks of January, when the massive rail work will take place throughout Auckland with buses having to replace trains so workers can safely work in the rail corridor.
Because of the complexity of the project, the area will be closed to Sturges Rd traffic for a few days while a single lane Bailey bridge, controlled by lights, will be installed.

Pedestrians and cyclists will share that temporary footbridge.

Construction work on the new bridge won’t begun until late March and won’t be finished until around December of next year.

SCARY: Crossing to the station path on the right

But the new bridge won’t solve a worrying safety issue.

Sturges Road is a very busy street, and crossing it, even at the weekend, is tricky. An underpass is needed, especially as many school students battle to cross it each morning to reach the Sturges Rd station.

Local residents have been appealing to local community boards for an underpass because of this dangerous traffic situation.
The council says there’s no money left over to consider an underpass at this stage but the bridge design would allow an underpass in the future.
While the new bridge will have pedestrian paths, it will work better for motorists than now though, as it will have three traffic lanes, instead of the present two.

I wish Kiwirail would re-consider its financial contribution so an underpass can be afforded.

The Project Dart work in the area includes an additional 70-metre-long concrete bridge built above Candia Road, north of the existing concrete rail bridge and two retaining walls between Mt Lebanon Lane and Sturges Rd.