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| The '''Sydney Harbour Bridge''' is one of the major landmarks of ] |
The '''Sydney Harbour Bridge''' is one of the major landmarks of ], connecting the ] (CBD) with the North Shore commercial and residential areas, both of which are located on ]. The dramatic water vista of the bridge together with the nearby ] is an ] image of both Sydney and Australia. The ] is colloquially referred to as "the Coathanger" because of its arch-based design, although this usage is less prevalent than it once was. | ||
| The bridge was the city's tallest structure until 1967. According to ], it is the widest long-span bridge in the world. It is the world's largest single-arch bridge, but not the longest (as millions of Australian school children were erroneously taught). The ] in the ], opened four months earlier on ] ], is just 2.3 ] (70 cm) longer. | The bridge was the city's tallest structure until 1967. According to ], it is the widest long-span bridge in the world. It is the world's largest single-arch bridge, but not the longest (as millions of Australian school children were erroneously taught). The ] in the ], opened four months earlier on ] ], is just 2.3 ] (70 cm) longer. | ||
Revision as of 11:27, 30 May 2006
Bridge in Sydney, / )| Sydney Harbour Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 33°51′08″S 151°12′39″E / 33.8522°S 151.2107°E / -33.8522; 151.2107 |
| Carries | Motor vehicles, trains, trams (until 1958), pedestrians and bicycles |
| Crosses | Port Jackson |
| Locale | Sydney, Australia (33°51′08″S 151°12′38″E / 33.85222°S 151.21056°E / -33.85222; 151.21056) |
| Official name | Sydney Harbour Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Single-Arch |
| Total length | 1149 metres (3,770 ft) |
| Width | 49 metres (161 ft) |
| Longest span | 503 metres (1,650 ft) |
| Clearance below | 49 metres (161 ft) at mid-span |
| History | |
| Opened | March 19, 1932 |
| Location | |
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of the major landmarks of Sydney, connecting the Sydney central business district (CBD) with the North Shore commercial and residential areas, both of which are located on Sydney Harbour. The dramatic water vista of the bridge together with the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of both Sydney and Australia. The bridge is colloquially referred to as "the Coathanger" because of its arch-based design, although this usage is less prevalent than it once was.
The bridge was the city's tallest structure until 1967. According to Guinness World Records, it is the widest long-span bridge in the world. It is the world's largest single-arch bridge, but not the longest (as millions of Australian school children were erroneously taught). The Bayonne Bridge in the United States, opened four months earlier on 15 November 1931, is just 2.3 feet (70 cm) longer.
The design bears a marked resemblance to that of the New York Hell Gate Bridge. Its design was later used as a basis for the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Description
The bridge's two ends are located at Dawes Point (in Sydney's Rocks area) and Milsons Point (in Sydney's lower North Shore area). It carries six lanes of road traffic on its main roadway, two lanes of road traffic (formerly two tram tracks) and a footpath on its eastern side, and two railway tracks and a bicycle path along its western side.
The road across the bridge is known as the Bradfield Highway and is about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) long, making it one of the shortest highways in Australia. (The shortest, also called the Bradfield Highway, is found on the Story Bridge in Brisbane). At 48.8 m (151.3 feet) wide, it is the widest bridge in the world (Guinness World Records, 2004).
The bridge deck portion of the highway is 1.15 km (0.71 miles) long. It is concrete and lies on trimmers (beams that run along the length of the bridge). The trimmers themselves rest on steel beams that run along the width of the bridge. The trimmers and beams are visible to boats that pass underneath the bridge.
The arch is composed of two 28-panel arch trusses. Their heights vary from 18 m (55.8 feet) at the center of the arch to 57 m (176.7 feet) (beside the pylons).
The arch span is 503 m (1,559 feet) and the weight of the steel arch is 39,000 tons. The arch's summit is 134 m (415.4 feet) above mean sea level, though it can increase by as much as 180 mm (seven inches) on hot days as the result of steel expanding in heat. Two large metal hinges at the base of the bridge accommodate these expansions and contractions and thereby prevent the arch from being damaged.
The two pairs of pylons at each end are about 89 m (276 feet) high and are made of concrete and granite. Abutments, which support the ends of the bridge, are contained at the base of the pylons. They prevent the bridge from stretching or compressing due to temperature variations. Otherwise, the pylons serve no structural purpose and are primarily to visually balance the bridge itself. They were originally not part of the design but were added later to allay concerns about structural integrity - ironically, as the pylons do not actually touch the bridge (except at road level). Although inserted into the designs for their aesthetic value, all four pylons have now been put to use: a museum and tourist centre with a lookout of the harbour is contained in the southeastern pylon. The southwestern pylon is used by the New South Wales traffic authority as a base for their CCTV cameras overlooking the bridge and the roads around that area. The two pylons on the north shore are now venting chimneys for fumes from the tunnel under the harbour.
The steel used for the bridge was largely imported. About 79% came from Redcar in the North East of Britain, the rest was Australian-made. The granite used was quarried in Moruya, New South Wales, and the concrete used was also Australian made.
The total weight of the bridge is 52,800 tonnes, and six million hand-driven rivets hold the bridge together.
Access
From the Sydney CBD side, motor vehicle access to the bridge is normally via Grosvenor Street, Clarence Street, Kent Street, the Cahill Expressway, or the Western Distributor. Drivers on the northern side will find themselves on the Warringah Freeway, though it is easy to turn off the freeway to drive westwards into North Sydney or eastwards to Neutral Bay and beyond upon arrival on the northern side.
Pedestrian access from the northern side involves climbing an easily-spotted flight of stairs at Milsons Point. Pedestrian access on the southern side is more complicated, but signposts in the Rocks area now direct pedestrians to the long and sheltered flight of stairs that leads to the bridge's southern end. These stairs are located near Gloucester Street and Cumberland Street in the Sydney Rocks area.
The bridge can also be accessed from the south by getting on Cahill Walk, which runs along the Cahill Expressway. Pedestrians can access this walkway from Circular Quay by a flight of stairs, or a lift, alternately it can be accessed from The Botanical Gardens.
Since 1998, BridgeClimb has made it possible for tourists to climb the southern half of the bridge. Tours run throughout the day, from dawn to dusk.
The bridge lies between Milsons Point and Wynyard railway stations, located on the north and south shores respectively, with two train lines running along the western side of the bridge. Both stations are part of the North Shore line.
Tolls
There is a toll of $3.00 for traffic headed into the CBD (southbound). No toll is charged for northbound traffic.
There are toll plazas at the northern and southern ends. The eastern-most southbound lanes (which continue over the Cahill Expressway after leaving the bridge) have their tollbooths at the northern end of the bridge, with the remainder being at the southern end of the bridge.
The toll was originally placed on travel across the bridge, in both directions, to recoup the cost of its construction. This cost was recovered in the 1980's, but the toll has been kept (indeed increased) as the State Government's main roads infrastructure department (the RTA) does not want to lose the significant amounts of revenue the bridge brings in.
When the decision to build the Sydney Harbour Tunnel was made in the early 1980's, the toll was increased (from 20 cents to $1, then to $1.50, and finally to $2 by the time the Tunnel opened) to pay for its construction. The Tunnel also had an initial toll of $2 southbound. After the increase to $1, the concrete barrier on the Bridge separating the Bradfield Highway from the Cahill Expressway was increased in height, because of the large numbers of drivers crossing it illegally from lane 7 to 6, in order to avoid the toll. The Toll was increased to $3 around 2004 to penalize drivers of SUVs (who mostly live north of the city) for the extra damage they inflict on Sydney's roads. This was met with protests from communities north of the city, similar to those caused by earlier increases.
Use of the bridge by bicycle riders (provided that they use the cycleway) and pedestrians is free.
History
Planning
The building of the current bridge can be said to have started in 1890, when a royal commission determined that there was a heavy level of ferry traffic in the Sydney Harbour area, best relieved with the construction of a bridge. Vehicular access to the north shore was undertaken with a series of smaller bridges located further westwards in the harbour, but this was insufficient for the traffic in the Sydney/North Sydney area.
Designs and proposals were requested in 1900, but a formal proposal was not accepted until 1911. In 1912, John Bradfield was appointed chief engineer of the bridge project, which also had to include a railway. He completed a formal design - the now familiar single arch shape - in 1916, but plans to implement the design were postponed until 1922, primarily because of World War I.
In November 1922 the NSW parliament passed laws that allowed the bridge's construction. Construction tenders for the bridge were requested the same year, and the British firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd, Middlesbrough won. To offset concerns about a foreign firm participating in the project, assurances were given by Bradfield that the workforce building the bridge would all be Australians.
The building of the bridge coincided with the construction of a system of underground railways in Sydney's CBD, known today as the City Circle, and the bridge was designed with this in mind. The bridge was designed to carry six lanes of road traffic, flanked by two railway tracks and a footpath on each side. Both sets of rail tracks were linked into the underground Wynyard railway station, on the south side of the bridge, by symmetrical ramps and tunnels. The eastern-side railway tracks were intended for use by a planned rail link to the Northern Beaches; in the interim they were to be used to carry trams from the North Shore into a terminal within Wynyard station.
Construction
The building of the bridge was under the management of Bradfield. Three other persons were involved in the bridge's design and construction: Laurence Ennis, the engineer-in-charge at Dorman Long and Co was the main supervisor (Bradfield visited occasionally throughout the project, and in particular at the many key stages of the project, to inspect progress and make managerial decisions); Edward Judge was Chief Technical Engineer of Dorman Long and later became President of the British Iron and Steel Federation; Sir Ralph Freeman was hired by the company to design the accepted model in further detail. Later a bitter disagreement broke out between Bradfield and Freeman as to who actually designed the bridge. Another name connected with the bridge's design is that of Arthur Plunkett.
Serious initiatives started after the end of World War I. Tenders were called for in 1923 either an arch or a cantilever bridge would meet the requirements. Dr J.J.C. Bradfield was responsible for setting the parameters of the tendering process. He and his staff were to ultimately oversee the entire bridge design and building process. The Bradfield Highway, which is the paved section of the bridge and its approaches, still bears his name to this day.
The tender of Dorman Long and Co. Ltd., of Middlesborough England for an arch bridge was accepted. The Dorman Long and Co's Consulting Engineer, Sir Ralph Freeman, carried out the detailed design of the bridge. The design was similar to New York's Hell Gate Bridge built in 1916. The Hell Gate Bridge was a little shorter in span but was much lighter in construction as it only carried four railway tracks.
The construction project itself began in 1923, with the demolition of 800 homes. The owners of these homes received compensation, but their occupants did not.
The first stage of the bridge project was the building of two worksheds at Milson's Point to assist in building the bridge - the light and heavy workshops. Their purpose was to build the bridge's many parts.
The first sod for the bridge was turned that same year. In January 1925, the excavations to build the abutments and approach spans began. In October 1925, the building of the abutments and approach spans themselves began, and these were completed in September 1928. Construction of the bridge itself began in December 1928, with the construction of the bridge parts in the workshops.
Construction of the arch of the bridge began in 1929, with two separate teams building the arch on each side using creeper cranes. The first panel was erected on the southern side in March 1929. The southern end of the bridge was worked on a month ahead of the northern end, in order to detect any errors and to ensure that they did not happen on the northern side.
During construction the two halves of the arch were held up by numerous support cables. Once the arch halves were completed the cables were slowly released to bring the two halves of the arch together. This was finalised on the afternoon of 19 August 1930. Ennis and four associates personally witnessed this whilst standing on top of the bridge. Following a parting that occurred due to the contracting of metal in the evening, the ends were rejoined at 10 pm, and have remained joined since then. The support cables were then surplus to the design and removed. They were subsequently used to provide the support cables for the Walter Taylor Bridge, over the Brisbane River in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland.
The road and the two sets of tram and railway tracks were completed in 1931. Power and telephone lines, and water, gas and drainage pipes were also all added to the bridge in that year. On 19 January 1932, the first test train, a steam locomotive, safely crossed the bridge. About 90 others also crossed the bridge in the months that followed as part of a series of tests to ensure the bridge's safety.
The construction worksheds were demolished after the bridge was completed, and the land that they were on is now occupied by Luna Park and the North Sydney swimming pool.
The standards of industrial safety during construction were poor by today's standards. Sixteen workers died during construction, mainly from falling off the bridge. Several more were injured from unsafe working practices undertaken whilst heating and constructing its rivets, and deafness experienced by many of the workers in later years was blamed on the project.
The total financial cost of the bridge was £10,057,170 7 shillings and 9 pence (double the original quote). This was not paid off in full until 1988.
Opening of the bridge
The bridge was formally opened on 19 March 1932. Amongst those who attended and gave speeches were the State Governor, Sir Philip Game, the Minister for Public Works, and Ennis. The Premier of NSW, Labor politician Jack Lang, was to open the bridge by cutting a ribbon at its southern end. However, just as he was about to do so, a man in military uniform moved forward on horseback and slashed the ribbon with a sword, declaring the bridge to be open "in the name of the decent and respectable citizens of New South Wales". He was promptly arrested, identified as Francis de Groot, and later convicted of offensive behaviour. The ribbon was hurriedly retied and Lang performed the official opening ceremony. After he did so, there was a 21-gun salute and a RAAF fly-past.
De Groot was not a member of the regular Army but his uniform allowed him to blend in with the real cavalry. He was a member of a right-wing paramilitary group called the New Guard, opposed to Lang's leftist policies. This incident was one of several that Lang had with the New Guard in that year.
A similar ribbon-cutting ceremony on the bridge's northern side by North Sydney's mayor, Alderman Primrose, was carried out without incident. It was later discovered that Primrose was also a New Guard member, but his role in and knowledge of the de Groot incident, if any, are unclear.
A message from a primary school in Tottenham, 340 miles (550 km) away in rural NSW, arrived at the bridge on the day and was presented at the opening ceremony. It had been carried all the way from Tottenham to the bridge by relays of school children, with the final relay being run by two children from the nearby Fort Street Boys' and Girls' schools.
Other features of the opening ceremony included a vast display of floats and marching bands - one quite remarkable by Depression standards. The public was allowed to walk on the highway.
There had been numerous preparatory arrangements. On 14 March 1932, three postage stamps were issued to commemorate the imminent opening of the bridge. One of these stamps, with a face value of five shillings, is worth several hundred dollars today.
Several songs were also composed in advance for the occasion. These have now been largely lost or forgotten.
The bridge itself was regarded as a triumph over Depression times.
Since the opening
Since the opening, the bridge has been the focal point of much tourism and national pride. It is Sydney's focal point of New Year and Australia Day celebrations, with fireworks being set off from the arch. Tragically, it has also been the scene of about 40 suicides, many of which took place within months of the bridge's opening, during the Great Depression.
In 1958 tram services across the bridge were withdrawn and the tracks they had used were removed and replaced by two extra road lanes; these lanes are now the leftmost southbound lanes on the bridge and are still clearly distinguishable from the other six road lanes. They connect the bridge to the elevated Cahill Expressway that carries traffic to the Eastern Distributor. The Bridge originally only had four wider traffic lanes occupying the central space which now has six, as photos taken soon after the opening clearly show. The width of the lanes now is so small that buses passing each other in adjacent lanes do so a few inches apart.
In 1982, the bridge celebrated the 50th anniversary of its opening. Once again, the bridge was closed to vehicles and pedestrians allowed full access for the day. The celebrations were attended by Edward Judge, who represented Dorman Long. Australia's bicentennial celebrations on 26 January 1988 attracted large crowds in the bridge's vicinity.
Sydney Harbour Tunnel and recent years
Also in 1988, work began to build a tunnel to complement the bridge. It was determined that the bridge could no longer support the increased traffic flow of the 1980s. The Sydney Harbour Tunnel was completed in August 1992. It is intended only for use by motor vehicles. Before it was officially opened for use, the tunnel was made open for pedestrian access, with persons on that day able to walk down the tunnel's roadway.
In May 2000 the bridge was closed to vehicular access for a day to allow a special reconciliation march - the "Walk for Reconciliation" - to take place. This was part of a response to an Aboriginal "Stolen Generation" inquiry, which found widespread suffering had taken place amongst Australian Aboriginal children forcibly placed into the care of white parents in a little-publicised state government scheme. A large number of Australians walked the bridge in a symbolic gesture of crossing a divide.
During the millenium celebrations, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lighted up with the word "Eternity", as a tribute to the legacy of Arthur Stace.
During the Sydney 2000 Olympics in September and October 2000, the bridge was adorned with the Olympic Rings. It was included in the Olympic torch's route to the Olympic stadium. The men's and women's Olympic marathon events likewise included the bridge as part of their route to the Olympic stadium. A massive fireworks display at the end of the closing ceremony ended at the bridge. The East-facing side of the bridge has been used several times since as a framework from which to hang static fireworks, especially during the elaborate New Year's Eve displays.
The first complete repainting for many years is now underway. The task requires that each section being painted be sealed off and blasted to remove old paint which is vacuumed out. This process is required as the current layer is lead paint which must not be allowed to fall into the harbour. A reason for the repainting is the concern that weight of the many layers of paint acquired over the years may have a destructive effect on the bridge's structure.
Security on the bridge has recently been introduced, due to the heightened risk of terrorist attack.
Quotations
"There the proud arch Colossus like bestride
Yon glittering streams and bound the strafing tide"
- Prophetic observation of Sydney Cove by Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin, from his poem 'Visit of Hope to Sydney Cove, near Botany Bay' (1789)
"I open this bridge in the name of the Majesty the King and all the decent citizens of NSW."
- Francis de Groot 'opens' the Sydney Harbour Bridge, (1932). His organisation, the New Guard, had resented the fact that King George V hadn't been asked to open the bridge.
"To get on in Australia, you must make two observations. Say, "You have the most beautiful bridge in the world" and "They tell me you trounced England again in the cricket." The first statement will be a lie. Sydney Bridge is big, utilitarian and the symbol of Australia, like the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower. But it is very ugly. No Australian will admit this."
- James Michener assesses Sydney Harbour Bridge in his book 'Return to Paradise', (1951)
External links
Template:Mapit-AUS-suburbscale
- Sydney Harbour Webcam
- Sydney Harbour Bridge Webcams
- This Bridgeclimb webpage also looks at the bridge's history
- Sydney City Council
- PhotoSydney: Harbour Bridge Mirror Ball New Year's Eve 2005 - photos of "Reflections"
- Album of photographs of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during construction
- Official air views of the opening celebrations of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 19 March 1932 / photographed by W. E. Searle
- Buildings and roads around North Sydney and Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1958-1961 / Wolfgang Sievers
- Sydney Harbour during the Olympic Games, including Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, 19-26 September 2000 / Loui Seselja
- Under Sydney Harbour Bridge
See also
- Hell Gate Bridge - The New York bridge that supposedly inspired Bradfield's design.
- Story Bridge, Brisbane - The other major bridge designed by John Bradfield.
- List of arch bridges by length
References
- Guinness World Records (2004). Guinness World Records - Widest Bridge. Retrieved 4 May 2005.
- Four papers on the design and construction of the Bridge in volume 235 of the Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1935