Australia - Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Great views of Sydney, Opera House, the Rocks and Sydney Cove
May 25, 2007
From 1932 when the bridge was built, until October 1998, the only people to scramble over its enormous span were drunken teenagers. It used to be the ultimate dare but in those days it was illegal, and it was expensive; anyone caught was liable for a fine of A$1,000. Nowadays you pay just A$98 for the experience of climbing the 134 metres to the top. This includes a safety harness and a photograph capturing your moment of glory. You’ll also have something in common with Paul Hogan who worked on the bridge from 1963 to 1972 before going on to Crocodile Dundee fame.
Australia - Opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Harbour Bridge is the world’s largest (but not longest) steel arch bridge and was built by the English firm of Dorman Long and Co. for the sum of Australian 4,217.721pounds 11 shillings and ten pence - a price as precise as the workmanship that went into the building of the bridge itself. The official opening took place on Saturday 19th March, 1932. Up to a million people are estimated to have crowded around the harbour. There were decorated floats, brass bands and gun salutes and a few enthusiasts extended the celebrations by unofficially climbing up the arch - a preview of the official bridge climb to be inaugurated 66 years later.
Australia - Sydney Harbour Bridge - Building of the Bridge I
Work on the bridge started in 1923 when things were booming in Sydney, but in 1932 Australia was, like most of the world, in the middle of the Depression and the outlook was not good. Out of this gloom and doom the bridge still managed to be built and it provided jobs and hope for the economy.
No matter what time of year you find yourself on the Bridge you will always see maintenance workers balancing on scaffolding above or below you. The bridge takes fifteen to twenty years to paint, so as soon as one end is finished, they start again at the other.
It was an ex-convict, Sir Frances Greenway, who in 1815 first came up with the idea of building a bridge across the harbour. Over a hundred years later his dream came true, but too late for him to see it.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb
The climb takes three hours or so and you begin your journey in a converted workshop in Cumberland Street, at The Rocks - a kitschy, touristy but still attractive area of Sydney Cove. The experience begins with a rather unnerving request to sign a disclaimer, which makes you feel like you are making out your will.
From the top of the ‘Coathanger’, as the bridge is known, the splendour of Sydney Harbour is laid out in all its sparkling beauty. The smooth curved shells of the Opera House on Bennelong Point stick out into the blue water.
Looking west is the Sydney 2000 Olympic Stadium, backed in the distance by the Blue Mountains. It’s hard to believe that the British sent people to this country as a punishment, but in those days Sydney was a harsh penal settlement struggling to survive in the heat and the empty landscape.
If the thought of scrambling up 134 metres of metal girders is too much for you the next best thing is to climb up the bridge pylon. There are 195 steps to the top and the view is similar to that from the top of the bridge, only nearer.
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