Happy 91st Birthday!!!
HE Horne, ‘Song for the Bridge’, February 1932:
Behold the Arch of Wonder
With sunset all aglow
When sea and sky bring heaven nigh
And tides eternal flow;
O bridge of Light to greater height
Thy call shall ever be
Where beauty dwells and casts her spells
In Sydney by the sea.
History:
On this day in 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened to the public. The event marked the end of almost a century of speculation and planning around a bridge or tunnel that would cross the harbour.
In 1922 the New South Wales Parliament passed the Sydney Harbour Bridge Act. Construction began on the approaches to the span in 1923 and on the bridge itself in 1925. More than 1600 people worked on the bridge during its construction.
In 2017 more than 200 trains, 160,000 vehicles and 1900 bikes used the bridge every day.
More on this Defining Moment here: bit.ly/3tpttHv
Image: Sydney Harbour Bridge under construction, 1930. National Museum of Australia
Source: Nation Museum of Australia
