#sydney harbour bridge
March 19th 1932: Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
On this day in 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened. There had been discussions of building a bridge to connect the northern and southern shores of Sydney Harbour for years. In 1924, the contract for the bridge was given to English firm Dorman Long and Co. Ltd. and work began on the bridge; work was overseen by J.J.C. Bradfield. There were fears that the two sides of the arch would not align properly, but in August 1930 the two halves met perfectly. Sixteen workers died during construction, most from unsafe working practices. The opening ceremony took place on March 19th 1932, and though the Premier of New South Wales Jack Lang was supposed to cut the ribbon, he was interrupted by an intruder who slashed the ribbon with his sword and declared the bridge open. The man was Francis de Groot, a member of a right-wing paramilitary group who opposed Lang’s leftist policies and the fact that a member of the Royal Family had not been invited to open the bridge. The ribbon was retied and Lang officially opened the bridge. The festivities to mark the opening included floats and a procession across the bridge by members of the public. Thousands of people turned out to see the opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge - a triumph over Depression times.
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On this day, 19th March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was officially opened.
Construction of the bridge began in 1924, and took 1400 men eight years to build at a cost of £4.2 million. Sixteen lives were lost during its construction, while up to 800 families living in the path of the proposed Bridge path were relocated and their homes demolished when construction started.
The arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built in two halves cantilevering from each shore and tying each half back by steel cables that were anchored into U-shaped tunnels excavated into the sandstone rock. Construction of the two halves of the arch began late in 1928, and the two halves were properly joined on 19 August 1930.
Theofficial opening of the bridge occurred on 19 March 1932.
Despite the bridge opening in the midst of the Great Depression, the festivities included an array of decorated floats, a procession of passenger ships sailing below the bridge, and a Venetian Carnival. After the official ceremonies, the public was allowed to walk across the bridge on the deck, something that would not be repeated until the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1982. Estimates suggest that between 300,000 and one million people took part in the opening festivities, a phenomenal number given that the entire population of Sydney at the time was estimated to be 1,256,000.
As the crowd waited for Premier Jack Lang to officially open the bridge, Francis de Groot, a member of the New Guard militia group, charged forward on a horse, slashed the ribbon and declared the bridge open.
De Groot was dragged from the horse and later charged with offensive behaviour, the ribbon was retied and the bridge was then officially opened.
The State Library of New South Wales holds a collection of material pertaining to Francis de Groot, including photographs, letters and his autobiography
The State Library of New South Wales has digitised a large collection of photographs from the collection, which depict the opening festivities.
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View of the Harbour Bridge from Barangaroo | © Saying Hello (November 2015)
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