Sydney Harbour Bridge facts
About Sydney Harbour Bridge
An estimated 160,000 cars pass over the Sydney Harbour Bridge each day. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932. It took 6 years to build, and required 272,000 litres of paint – for the first coat. At the time of its construction, the Sydney Harbour Bridge cost 10 million pounds to build – over 1.5 billion Australian dollars in today's money! You may know one of the painters of the Sydney Harbour Bridge... his name is Paul Hogan, and he's also known as Crocodile Dundee. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of only two bridges in Australia that can (legally) be climbed. The other? Brisbane's Story Bridge. Some famous names who have climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge: Justin Timberlake, Matt Damon, Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue, Cameron Diaz and many others.
Did You Know?
16 people died during the Sydney Harbour Bridge's construction. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is affectionately nicknamed “the Coathanger” for its distinctive arc shape. During construction of the bridge, around 14,000 workers were employed at all times, with many of them receiving very good pay. Over 800 families were forced to move out of their homes to make way for the Sydney Harbour Bridge's construction. They were not compensated for their troubles. Around six million rivets are used to hold the bridge together. The distance from the water to the top of the bridge's arch is 134m. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is 1149m long including its approaches, and 503m long at its arch span. It's also 49m wide.
