Sydney Harbour Bridge with the Opera House in the background
by Ian, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:SydneyHarbourBridgeandOperaHouse_IB.jpg, under GNU Free Documentation License
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Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world, and an iconic image of Sydney and Australia. It crosses the Sydney Harbour carrying vehicular, rail and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore.
Although it was built over 75 years ago (it celebrated its 75th anniversary on 18 March, 2007), it is still the widest long-span bridge in the world and the highest steel arch bridge. The top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge towers 134 metres (429.6 feet) above the water of Sydney Harbour. Sydney Harbour Bridge is also the fourth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world
The two ends of Sydney Harbour Bridge are located at Dawes Point in The Rocks area, and Milsons Point in North Shore area. There are six lanes of road traffic, another two converted from former tram tracks, two railway tracks, a footpath on the eastern side (facing the Sydney Opera House), and a bicycle track on the western side.
39,000 tons of steel was used for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Most of it came from Middlesborough in the northeast of England while the rest came from Australia itself. The rivets were made in Lancashire, England while the granite used came from Moruya in New South Wales.
The idea of building a bridge across Sydney Harbour came as early as 1815, when Australian architect Francis Greenway proposed it. However, nothing came about until 1890, when a royal commission determined that the heavy ferry traffic across the harbour is best relieved by a bridge. Designs and proposals were requested in 1900, but a formal proposal was only accepted in 1911. The chief engineer appointed to the task was Dr John JC Bradfield, who travelled extensively to look at other bridges of the world. He opted for a single arch shape, based on New York City's Hell Gate Bridge. He completed the design in 1916, but the project was delayed till 1922 because of World War I.
The construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge coincided with the construction of Sydney's underground railway, known today as the City Circle, and so the bridge design took that into account. The rail tracks on the bridge would link to the underground Wynyard railway station.
Tenders for building the bridge was called in 1923. The official commencement ceremony was held on 28 July 1923. The construction of the bridge proper would only start five years later, in 1928, as a few years were needed to build the abutments and approach spans. The two halves of the arches were linked together for the first time on 19 August 1930.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was formally opened on 19 March 1932, in a ceremony attended by Sir Philip Game, the Governor of New South Wales and Jack Lang, the Premier of New South Wales.
Underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and not visible is the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, which uses the north shore pylon of the bridge as its fumes venting chimney.
Night view of Sydney and the Harbour Bridge
by Diliff, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sydney_Harbour_Bridge_night.jpg, used under used under GNU Free Documentation License
Sydney Harbour Bridge from another angle
by Kolamil, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sydney-Harbour_bridge.JPG, and available in the public domain
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