Sydney Harbour Bridge turns 90

This angle gives a different perspective on the famous “coat hanger” shape. And I haven’t seen a cruise ship on the harbour for two years now!

I can see the top — the very top! — of the harbour bridge from my kitchen window. Last night I was puzzled to see it lit up in blues and reds, the colours chasing each other along the arch. (Then, of course, yet another deluge began and whited out everything, again, and that was the end of that.) This morning I learned the reason for the light display: today is the 90th anniversary of the opening of the bridge. And by great good coincidence, Cee’s CFFC challenge this week is Bridges!

Here’s a photo of the underside of the bridge (and Queen Mary, berthed at the Overseas Passenger Terminal).

Taken from Milson’s Point.

The stark metal structures look wonderful when the evening light hits them.

Taken on a sunset cruise.

Looking up from the water as the boat passes under the bridge.

Two shots of the bridge lit at night.

Convenient bench from which to admire the bridge.

That’s the Luna Park amusement park behind the bridge.

I read an interesting story this morning, about the men who quarried and shaped the granite for the pylons. “173,000 blocks were cut, numbered, and arranged like a jigsaw puzzle.” Wow. The pylons do not, as many people think, actually support the bridge. You can see in this photo that the arch ends without touching this pylon.

Big gap between arch and pylon!

Here’s the bridge on a day when we were blanketed in bushfire smoke.

Looming from the murk.

The sun sets behind the bridge, which can result in some stunning photos as the metal seems to glow. (Having the opera house in the foreground doesn’t hurt either!)

Here’s a closer view of the top of the arch. If you look to the right of the spire, you can make out a group of blue-clad people doing the Bridge Climb.

The bridge plays its part during the Vivid Light Festival, too.

A good view of some of those 173,000 blocks of granite!

Most people will have seen photos of the bridge when it takes centre stage during Sydney’s extravagant New Year’s Eve fireworks display.

Taken from a balcony at the opera house, before the fireworks.

These two shots are pretty awful, I’m the first to admit it. All I can say is that they were handheld and I was in a crowd (yeah, you try pushing to the front of a thousand opera-attending partyers with your tripod, and see how that works). But you get the idea, and you can make out the bridge.

And finally, this is possibly my favourite shot of the bridge. 🙂

Distorted image in a glass of bubbly, taken at Opera Bar.

The bridge in numbers:
Width: 49m, carrying traffic, railway lines, pedestrian walkway and bicycle track
Length: 1149m
Main span length: 503
Height above sea level: top of arch 134m
Height above sea level: top of pylons 88m
Number of hand-driven rivets: almost 6,000,000