From the Tees to Sydney Harbour
March 19, 2002
A new exhibition is being opened in Middlesbrough to commemorate the 70th birthday of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The bridge was built by the famous Dorman Long company on Teesside.
It proved to be the catalyst for an explosion in international bridge-building contracts for the region.
The exhibition opens today at the Transporter Bridge Museum in Middlesbrough.
Attractions include photographs charting the construction of the bridge, a trowel used to lay the foundation stones and a 2.5ft steam engine used to transport girders around the site.
Six million rivets
Meanwhile Down Under, ten Australians who share the bridge’s birthday shared the occasion by climbing the arch of the bridge.
Known by Sydney residents as '’The Coat Hanger’, the bridge was officially opened on 19 March, 1932, by New South Wales state Premier Jack Lang.
The arch of the bridge spans 503 meters and at its highest point stands 134m above sea level.
It is held together by some six million rivets and each coat of grey paint would cover 60 soccer fields.
Film star Paul Hogan once worked as a painter on the bridge.
The bridge links Sydney's commercial district on the harbour's south bank with its residential district on the northern shore. Tens of thousands of cars and dozens of trains pass over it every day.
Share your news!
Do you have a story to tell? Click on the link below to write to me and share it!
Write to Sue
read on
Copyright (c) 2000-2002 Sue Kelly