The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a bridge in Sydney, Australia that spans from Dawes Point, in the city to Milsons Point, on the North Shore. The bridge, a national icon is also affectionately known as the ‘coat hanger.’ The building of the bridge was first considered in 1815 by Francis Greenway. But it was not until the 19th March 1932 that the bridge was actually opened, by Jack Lang who was the NSW Premier at the time. When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was first opened it was the longest steel span arch bridge in the world. It took eight years to complete building it and a further six months maintenance before the actual official opening.
Construction of the bridge.
1,400 men were employed in the building of the bridge and the total cost of the building of the Sydney Har
...bour Bridge was 10 million pounds sterling. It took 53,000 tonnes of steel and 6 million rivets to build the bridge. The bridge had to be painted grey because there were no other colours available in such vast quantities. It took 272,000 litres of paint to complete the first coat.
Painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1949
Downsides. Things did not go smoothly for everyone in the building of the bridge. 800 families living in the bridges path were forced to relocate. Their homes were demolished, yet they received no compensation at all. The owners of the houses did, but the occupants did not. There was no such thing as OHS in those days so as you can imagine workplace safety was very poor. 16 workers died and many more experienced deafness in years to come as a result of
not wearing proper ear protection while involved in the building process. There were several suicide attempts on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in its early days, because of the effects that the Depression had on many people. Structure.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel span arch bridge. Its foundations are 12 metres deep and set in sandstone. The four pylons at each corner are there more so for aesthetic reasons as opposed to constructional reasons. The bridge can rise or fall up to 18cm as the steel contracts or expands depending on the weather. Upkeep of the Bridge.
When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was first opened the toll fee for a car was 6 pence and a horse and rider had to pay 3 pence. Today the car toll is about $3 and not surprisingly horses and riders are banned from crossing the bridge. The toll fee is necessary to pay for the ongoing maintenance of the bridge. For example the painting on the bridge never ends. When it’s finished its time to go back and start again.
The Bridge Today
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a very important part of Sydney as it carries 160, 000 cars a day. In 1988 the Sydney Harbour Tunnel was built under the Sydney Harbour Bridge because it could no longer cope with increasing traffic flow. Because of increasing terrorist activity around the world, security of the bridge had to be introduced. There is also a Bridge Climb available which has been rated in the Lonely Planet’s top ten adrenaline rush experiences. The views are fantastic. Every New Years Eve the Sydney Harbour Bridge plays host to a spectacular fireworks display. People
gather all around the harbour and also in front of their television sets to enjoy this.
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