Sydney Harbour Bridge | Institution of Civil Engineers

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel arch bridge across Sydney Harbour. Built in 1932, it carries road and rail traffic, as well as pedestrians.  SydneyHarbourBridge BuildalandmarkbridgeacrossSydneyHarbour TheSydneyHarbourBridgeisasteelarchbridgeacrossSydneyHarbour.Builtin1932,itcarriesroadandrailtraffic,aswellaspedestrians.ItconnectsSydney’scentralbusinessdistricttothenorthshore. Nicknamed‘theCoathanger’becauseofitsarcheddesign,the1,149m-long,48.8m-widestructureistheworld’stalleststeelarchbridge–measuring134mfromthetoptothewaterbelow.It’salsothesixthlongestspanning-archbridgeintheworld. Thestructure–alongwithSydneyOperaHouseandtheharbouritself–ispartofoneofthemostfamousimagesofAustralia.TheviewisfrequentlyusedtoestablishthatafilmorTVshowissetinthecountry. Therehadbeenproposalsforabridgeasearlyas1815,whenBritisharchitectFrancisGreenaway–who’dbeentransportedtoAustraliaforforgery–suggestedtheidea. Greenawaywrotetoanewspapersayingthatabridgewould‘giveanideaofstrengthandmagnificence’. Moreseriousplanninggotunderwayin1914,whenJohnBradfieldwasappointedchiefengineerforabridgescheme.Bradfieldgottheideaforthestructure’sdesignafteratriptoAmericain1921–drawingupoutlineplansforacrossingbasedontheHellGateBridgeinNewYork. TheNewSouthWalesgovernmentranatenderingprocessin1924.Withsixcompaniesbidding,thecontractwenttoBritishfirmDormanLongandCompany,who’dbuiltNewcastle’sTyneBridge. Thearchdesignwaschosenoverproposalsforasuspensionbridge,ascitybossesthoughtitwouldbebettersuitedtotheheavytraffictheyexpectedtousethecrossing. SydneyHarbourBridge TheSydneyHarbourBridgeisasteelarchbridgeacrossSydneyHarbour.Builtin1932,itcarriesroadandrailtraffic,aswellaspedestrians.ItconnectsSydney’scentralbusinessdistricttothenorthshore. Differencetheprojecthasmade TheSydneyHarbourBridgeopenedupthenorthernsideoftheharbourandallowedSydneytoexpandtothenorth. Beforethebridgewasbuilt,crossingtheharbourmeanttakingaferryboat.Thebridgemeantpeopleandgoodscouldmakethejourneyfarmorequickly. ThebridgeimprovedcommunicationsintheSydneyarea–easiermovementofgoodsandpeoplehelpedboostthelocaleconomy. Howtheworkwasdone Engineersstartedworkforthebridgebydemolishingaround470homesandcommercialbuildingsonthenorthshore.Ownerswerepaidlittleornocompensation. Earlyworkincludedtheconstructionofconcretepierstosupporttheapproachspansofthestructure.Anapproachspanisthepartofabridgethatcarriestrafficfromthelandtothemainpartofabridge. Thenextmajorstageoftheworksawtheconstructionofgiant‘creepercranes’oneithersideoftheharbour.Thecraneshoistedmenandmaterialsintoplacetobuildthestructure. Thecranesgottheirnamebecausethey‘crept’alongthearchesastheywereconstructed.Thecranesfinallymetwhenthetwohalvescametogether. Engineersworkedonthesouthernendoftheschemeaheadofthenorthernendtohelpwiththealignmentofthestructure.Thetwohalf-bridgesmeton19August1930,afterlessthantwoyears. Theprojectteamfinishedthedeckfortheroadwayin1931,whenthecreepercranesweredismantled.Engineersthenlaidtheroadsurfaceandrailtracksacrossthebridge.ThefirsttesttrainwentoverthestructureinJanuary1932. Some1,400workershelpedbuildthebridge.Sixteenmenwerekilledinaccidentsduringconstruction. "​‌ TheSydneyHarbourBridgeisanAustralianculturalicon. NewSouthWalesgovernmentwebsite Fascinatingfacts ThebridgewasopenedbyNewSouthWalesprimeministerJackLangon19March1932.Acrowdofaround1mpeopleturnedupfortheevent. Justastheprimeministerwasabouttocuttheribbon,FrancisdeGrootofright-winggrouptheNewGuardslasheditinhalfwithasword.DeGroot–whowasdisguisedasamilitaryhorseman–wasprotestingashebelievedthatamemberoftheBritishroyalfamilyshouldopenthebridge. DeGrootwasconvictedofoffensivebehaviourandfined£5.Helatersuccessfullysuedpoliceforwrongfularrest. Peoplewhomadeithappen Chiefengineer:JohnBradfield Designer:SirRalphFreeman Constructionengineers:DormanLongandCompany Moreaboutthisproject sydney-harbour-bridge.nesa.nsw.edu.au Exploremorecivilengineeringprojects TheEDFRenewablesBlythOffshoreDemonstratorWindfarmProject KalgoorlieSuperPit PrevProject NextProject CIVILENGINEERSTALKABOUTTHEIRWORK KishoreRamdeen CivilEngineer DominicCronin CivilEngineer AndyMitchell CivilEngineer AnushaShah CivilEngineer JohnSmeaton CivilEngineer SakthySelvakumaran CivilEngineer BrynNoble CivilEngineer BiancaWheeler CivilEngineer EmmaWatkins CivilEngineer AaronMatthew CivilEngineer PreviousNext SeehowyourstudiesleadtoacivilengineeringcareerThejobyouendupwithincivilengineeringislikelytolinkbacktowhatyoustudiedatschool,collegeoruniversity.Hereyoucanseeyouroptionsatanyage. Studyingatschool Upto16years School/college 15-18years College/university 18years+ Changecareer Anyage