Sydney Harbour Bridge

1923

The first sod was turned at Milsons Point on 28 July 1923

The bridge was built under John Bradfield of the New South Wales Department of Public Works, by the British firm Dorman Long of Middlesbrough. The ceremony to mark the turning of the first sod took place on 28 July 1923 at Milsons Point. Bradfield's general design was a rough copy of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. The bridge opened in 1932. It is nicknamed the Coathanger, for its arch.

The steel

Six million hand-driven rivets hold the arch together

The arch has a span of 504 metres, and its summit is 134 metres above mean sea level. About 79 percent of the steel, the sections forming the curve of the arch, was imported pre-formed from England. The bridge is held together by six million Australian-made hand-driven rivets, the last driven through the deck on 21 January 1932.

504metres, the span of the steel arch

The pylons

The granite pylons were added to calm the public

At each end of the arch stands a pair of 89-metre concrete pylons faced with granite. About 250 Australian, Scottish and Italian stonemasons and their families moved to a temporary settlement at Moruya, 300 kilometres south of Sydney, where they quarried the granite. The pylons have no structural purpose. They were added to allay public concern about the strength of the bridge, and in 1942 they were fitted with anti-aircraft guns.

1932

A rider with a sword cut the ribbon before the premier could

At the opening ceremony, just as the premier, Jack Lang, was about to cut the ribbon, a man in military uniform rode up on a horse. He slashed the ribbon with his sword and opened the bridge in the name of the people of New South Wales before the official ceremony began. He was promptly arrested. The ribbon was hurriedly retied, and Lang performed the official opening.

The workers

Sixteen workers died during construction

The standards of industrial safety during construction were poor. Sixteen workers died during construction, though only two from falling off the bridge. Several more were injured by unsafe practices while heating and inserting the rivets, and the deafness that many of the workers had in later years was blamed on the project.