Work is progressing well on installing 90,000 solar powered LEDs to create the Vector Lights experience on Auckland’s Harbour Bridge.

Crews have been working underneath the bridge installing lights on each girder of the kilometre-long bridge. This month, work will move to road level, with some lane closures at night to allow access to parts of the bridge.

Vector head of networks programme delivery Minoru Frederiksens says roughly 30,000 LEDs have been installed so far, with work set to ramp up this month.

Richard Neville, Vector Lights designer from Mandylights, says conditions through a wet and windy spring have been among the most difficult the team has faced.

“The conditions have been pretty brutal. We were prepared for four seasons in one day, but what we probably weren’t prepared for was four seasons in a morning, or a couple of hours.”
 
The mechanics of the bridge are also more challenging than they might appear to someone who drives over it every day.

“They might look uniform, but every one of those girders is a slightly different width, it’s got bolts in slightly different places. So every section of lights is cut to length, and every rigging adaptor is made for a specific part of the bridge.

As work on the bridge progresses, so does the installation of the battery and solar panels in Wynyard Quarter. This battery and solar array will use peer to peer technology to power Vector Lights. Work is scheduled to complete later this year. 

Vector and Auckland Council will announce details of the Vector Lights launch event and other future lighting events on the bridge late this month.

Harbour Bridge road closures for Vector Lights:

Road closures will take place Sunday through Thursday nights on the follow dates:

5th to the 9th November  - Northbound 
12th to 16th November -  Northbound  
19th to 23rd November- Southbound
26th to 30th November - Southbound
 
Timeframes are typically from 9pm to 5am. 
 
Northbound closures – 
-    SH-1 Curran St on-ramp closed. 
-    Stafford Road northbound off ramp closed
 
Southbound closures
-    SH1 – Shelly Beach off ramp closed. 
 
There will be no added noise for our work. The road closures are necessary to safely install the lights on the over arch. 

Video
Mandy Lights designer Richard Neville describes conditions on the Harbour Bridge.