Sydney Harbour Bridge 75th year
On this sunday 18th March 2007, Sydney harbour bridge will be 75th years old already. It was opened on 1932.and till now still become one of the icon of Sydney. Actually i live very close to sydney harbour bridge, because i stay around circular quay, so its only 5 minutes walk from my apartment. And i used to walk around at night enjoying the great view of the harbour bridge at night.
There will be ‘Our Bridge’ walk run from 10.00am - 7.30pm from North Sydney on 18th of March 2007. But you need to register from www.ourbridge.com.au
SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE – FAST FACTS
• Opened March 19, 1932.
• Span length: 503 meters pylon to pylon.
• Height:134 metres.
• Weight including approaches: 52,800 tonnes.
• Span weight: 39,000 tonnes.
• The Sydney Harbour Bridge, while appearing curved, is only made of straight pieces of
steel.
• The Bridge is painted on the inside as well as on the outside. A total of 272,000 litres of
Berger paint was used in the first three coats.
• The last of six million rivets on the Bridge was placed in the top of the arch on the eastern side. The largest rivet weighed 3.5 kilograms.
• The first car to cross the Bridge, a Model A Ford, contained John Bradfield and his family and was driven by Bradfield’s youngest son, Stan.
• The first man to walk from shore to shore on the Bridge was James Holt, a worker.
• About 80% of the steel in the Bridge came from England, including all the silicon steel for the arch. The remaining 20% was Australian-made.
• The maximum number of workers employed on the Bridge was 1654.
• The Bridge’s arch weighs 39,006 tonnes and the rivets alone weigh 3,200 tonnes.
• During construction more than 100,000 rivets were regarded as faulty by the inspectors and had to be cut out and replaced.
• The Bridge’s towers are purely decorative and contain 40,000 pieces of granite and 95,000 cubic metres of concrete.
• The weight of the Bridge is carried on just four bearing pins only 37 centimetres in diameter. The bearings were manufactured in England and each weighs more than 300 tonnes.
• The Bridge took eight years to build from start of excavations in January 1925.
• The Bridge has more than 100 moving parts including sliding bearings.
• Trams used to run on the eastern side of the Bridge until 1959.
• It would be 1959 before the number of private vehicles accounted for more passenger trips over the bridge than public transport.
• In 1934, about 12,000 vehicles crossed the Bridge each day. By the 1980’s this figure had risen to almost 160,000.
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