Sydney Harbour Bridge

We now call this area Barangaroo, but when this first shot was taken, it was still called Walsh Bay.

Brisbane, Perth, Hobart and Sydney were all built around bodies of water. In each case, that created problems as the small settlements became large cities. Sydney had the worst problems because the harbour, a drowned river valley, is shaped like a fern leaf.

At the end of the last ice age, the glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere melted, the melt-water ran into the oceans and sea levels rose by about 60 metres. The ocean pushed up along river valleys and flooded across coastal plains, but it did not rise high enough to cover the tough sandstone ridges of today’s Sydney. To cross the drowned river valleys, Sydneysiders needed lots of bridges—even more than the other state capitals.

In 1815, Governor Lachlan Macquarie’s architect, Francis Greenway, suggested building a bridge from the south shore to the north shore of Sydney Harbour, but there was no real need for one then.

Later, when all the good farmland at Parramatta had been taken up, a few people discovered that the sandstone ridges running north had small caps of shale that made the soil good enough for market gardens, and so settlements developed along what is now the North Shore railway line.

That railway line opened in 1890. As soon as it did, people began building houses along it. After 1893, they could catch a train to Milsons Point and cross the harbour by steam ferry, to work in the city, People began talking about having a harbour crossing.

In 1900, a group of politicians tried to get agreement to a proposal that the Duke of York would lay the foundation stone for a harbour crossing while he was visiting Sydney for the inauguration of Federation, but the proposal was shelved.

The talk in Sydney in 1900 was mainly about a railway bridge, high enough so that ships could go underneath it. A plan was in place by 1911, and John Bradfield was appointed chief engineer of the project in 1912. By 1916, his design was ready, but it was the middle of the Great War, so the work was delayed.

From 1900 on, motor cars, motor lorries and motor omnibuses had all become important forms of transport, as had trams. As the plans were firmed up, it was decided that the new bridge needed two train lines, two tram lines, and as many lanes for road traffic as possible. In the end, Bradfield allowed for what then seemed like the huge number of six traffic lanes!

Parts of The Rocks area in Sydney had been torn down in the clean-up after the plague epidemic of 1900. Another 800 homes were demolished to make way for the bridge. Yet, between April 1923 and when the bridge opened in March 1932, its construction kept many Sydneysiders in work. During the Great Depression, a time of great misery for many people, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was a symbol of hope.

The two arms of the bridge’s arch began to move out over the water in March 1929, with one arm coming from each side of the harbour, reaching towards each other across the gap. Until the two sides met in August 1930, hidden cables stopped them from crashing down into the water.

While the bridge was being built, 16 workers were killed on the job or died later as a result of their injuries. The bridge was finally opened to great fanfare in March 1932, with a parade and much celebration. And a scandal.

The one event most people still know about from the day the bridge opened was completely unofficial. Some conservative people were offended that Premier Jack Lang was opening the bridge rather than a member of Britain’s royal family or the king’s representative, New South Wales Governor Sir Philip Game. On 19 March 1932, as Premier Lang stepped forward to cut the ribbon, Captain Francis De Groot, a member of the extremist right-wing New Guard, rode forward on a horse and slashed the ribbon with his sword, shouting: ‘In the name of the loyal and decent citizens of New South Wales, I declare this bridge open!’

De Groot was arrested, the severed ends of the ribbon were tied back together, and Lang performed the official opening ceremony.

Walking over the bridge.

There are pathways on both sides of the bridge, but the western side is reserved for bicycles. The easiest way is to take the lift at the eastern end of Circular Quay. There are two lifts side by side, and if you look, you will see them. Go up, turn right, and follow your nose.

You will be close to traffic, but completely safe. At the other end, you are in North Sydney, you can take a train back to Wynyard (or beyond).