Victoria Park Viaduct in Auckland gets a much needed upgrade

Most people who have been to Auckland would have travelled over the iconic Victoria Park Viaduct which first opened in 1962 and has carried millions of vehicles in its lifetime.

With the completion of the Victoria Park Tunnel, the viaduct now only carries south, west and city bound traffic and has recently been upgraded with 50 new energy-efficient LED lights and 1.5kms of new curved steel guardrail from CSP.

With approximately 58,000 vehicles travelling across the viaduct on a daily basis the installation of the new LED energy efficient lights and the new custom-made Thrie-Beam™ Steel Guardrail System had to be made during overnight closures of the viaduct. The existing pipe and barrier had to be cut off and replaced with the new custom-made steel guardrail and handrail - identical to other parts of Auckland’s motorway network.

“There were considerable amounts of tailor-made sections of rail supplied for the viaduct,” explains Will Young, Sales Engineer for CSP. “We were asked to supply sections of Thrie-Beam™ in anything from 1 to 3m lengths. Each section had to have specially drilled holes to coincide with the bridge posts on the viaduct. Our engineers did a great job as it wasn't straight-forward, and it was delivered on time. The clients are very happy with the outcome and so are we.”

The upgrade was completed in February a month ahead of schedule - with sleek new guardrail and modern new lighting the viaduct is set to continue to carry traffic for many more years to come.