Harbour Bridge, New Zealand

It was a bit strange to recieve postcard from New Zealand that wasn't from my boyfriend ;) I've discovered Round Robins on postcrossing  forum and I think my wallet will be pernamently empty. Luckily I need to gain trust first so I can take part only in one RR group from Bridges RR. I'm doing my best to not even check other groups ;)

Bridge that can be seen on the postcard shows Auckland Harbour Bridge which is a part of state Highway 1- the longest road in the North Island. There are 8 lines for the cars and- what is suprising to me - there is no walking or cycling access. Only tourists can walk on the span  when they are on guided tours. I found some facts about the bridge here

• The Auckland Harbour Bridge was opened on 30th of May 1959 and it took over 200 workers around 4 years to build.

• It was made with 6500 tonnes of concrete and nearly 6000 tonnes of steel.

• When the bridge was first built it only had four lanes but after a few years they needed to make the bridge bigger to cope with all the traffic so they added two lanes to each side. The new lanes were called “clippons” because they were made in Japan, shipped to New Zealand on huge ships and then clipped into place with huge steel pins and rods.

• The Auckland Harbour Bridge cost 16 million dollars to build over 40 years ago! The clippons were another 13.5 million dollars1

• They decided to build a harbour bridge because the traffic wanting to go from Auckland City to the North Shore or vice versa was growing all the time and the trip round the harbour through West Auckland used to take hours. 

• Before the bridge was built vehicles and passengers also used ferries to get from one side to the other. Ferries are boats that take either cars or passengers or both.

• The span between the water and the bridge is about 15 stories high – high enough for most yachts to sail under but not high enough for many of the cruise ships, tankers and cargo ships that come into the Auckland Wharfs

• The bridge is 1,021 meters long (nearly 10 rugby fields long)