The Harbour Bridge – in its ninetieth year – was opened with great pageantry!

It’s an unmistakable and much-loved part of Sydney. This month, Sydney Harbour Bridge has been around for 90 years. To mark the anniversary of this famous icon, celebrations will make this occasion really special. 

The first train to cross the bridge, carriage C-3426, will repeat the performance just did it did on March 19, 1932. Over 100 passengers will get the chance to ride on the famous locomotive, 3801, on the bridge’s birthday.

Why not go back to the glorious, historic summer day of the official opening in 1932.

Premier Jack Lang lined up ready to cut the ribbon on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 
A New Guardsman, called Captain de Groot and a “decrepit steed”, slashed the ribbon before the Labor Premier Lang could raise an elbow.

Perhaps what will linger in people’s minds is that of a protesting de Groot, with upraised sword, as he sliced the ribbon first.

Fifty years on, Peter Spearritt, author of The Sydney Harbour Bridge – A Life, writes that Sydney Tower might be taller and the Opera House prettier, “but nothing can match the sheer scale and setting of the Bridge.
How right he is.

When the arches finally met in August, 1930, cynics were bitterly disappointed. 

Spearritt goes on. “While no longer the largest arch bridge in the world, it lives on in the imagination and lives of Sydneysiders as the centrepiece of the city. Few structures in Australia are more used and abused.

“The first realistic bridge plans surfaced in 1850s. For the next 70 years, proposals came thick and fast; some bizarre. But politicians came and went almost as often; so, the schemes failed for lack of political and financial support.

“Australia had never seen construction more spectacular than the building of the Bridge. The half arches slowly reaching out from either side of the Harbour, held Sydneysiders spellbound.

“When the arches finally met in August, 1930, cynics – and Melburnians – were bitterly disappointed. The excitement continued with the hanging of the deck and the building of the granite pylons.”

The Harbour Bridge claimed over 60 lives in the first seven months after its completion due to the Depression years.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened on March 19, 1932. The largest crowd ever produced in the history of Australia gathered on the day.

After the melee, Premier Jack Lang opened the Bridge. In the first seven months – at the “height of the Depression” – 60 people death-dived off the Bridge. Spare a thought for the 16 men who died during its construction.

“Few symbols have been more enduring or more distinctive,” wrote Spearritt.

If something deserves its 90 years, it’s the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Long live the Bridge.

The bridge, its arch-based design, has been nicknamed “the Coathanger”.  What it is that encourages the iconic “arch’ to the same things every day for 90 year?

Three ships were specifically built for the purpose of transporting the granite pylons from central NSW to Sydney.

It was constructed so the Sydney CBD would join to the North Shore. It carries trains, vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians 24-hours a day, 7 days a week – rain, hail and shine.

Originally, the bridge carried six lanes of traffic. The two additional lanes on its eastern side were trams lanes, before the rail came.  The total weight of the steel in the bridge, including the arch and the bridge span is 52,800 tonnes.

In total, the bridge is held together by six million hand-rivets, all Australian-made.

At each end of the arch, stands a pair of 89m high concrete pylons faced with granite. It was the work of 250 Australians, Scottish and Italian stonemasons who were located in a temporary settlement at Moruya, NSW.

More than 635,664 cu.ft. granite was made into numbered blocks and transported to Sydney on three ships built specifically for the purpose.

The pylons have no structural purpose to the load of the arch; they were designed for the effect; to give a better visual balance to the Bridge.

When the two arch panels were adjoined, there was a raucous smile on every workers face.

The panels were a perfect fit!

Top: The Bridge on the anniversary of its opening at 90 years of age. ​Below: Closing the arch in 1930, and three men risked their lives.

Frank Morris comment: The celebration gets under way on March 19. It will feature street performances between Town Hall and Campbells Cove with buskers, caricature artists and swing dancers.