As is not uncommon with major engineering projects the Grafton Bridge bankrupted the company building it. So the Council which had commissioned it to link the city centre with the new hospital and sports grounds in Auckland Domain finished it itself. In 1910 it was noteworthy "as the reinforced concrete arch bridge with the largest span in the world."
The twin, 3 pinned arches, spanned 320 feet (97.6 metres) rising 85 feet (25.6 metres ) above the abutments and to a height of 142 feet (43.3 metres) above the valley floor. It was certainly a pioneering structure, being a very early use of reinforced concrete in New Zealand, and "showing great engineering enterprise and brilliance of design. "
Image Credits: Grafton Bridge, 1928, Auckland, by J.W. Chapman-Taylor. Purchased 1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds, Grafton Bridge, Auckland, circa 1912, Auckland, by Muir & Moodie studio. Te Papa
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