Sydney Harbour Bridge Marks 90th Anniversary

Today marks 90-years since the Sydney Harbour Bridge first opened to the public.

Arguably, Australia's most defining built structure, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with its distinctive arched design was constructed soon after World War I, during the Great Depression. 

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Over the next decade, 40,000 tonnes of steel and six million rivets would go into building the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

“The bridge was an early and very powerful symbol of the modern Australian project,” Sydney-based urban historian Paul Ashton told The Guardian.

“It ties in with the idea of ‘Australia unlimited’ – where there were no limits to what a young nation could aim to do if its natural and human resources were harnessed to the full capacity using the latest engineering technology.”

The grand opening, which saw anywhere from 300,000 to a million people turn out for the occasion, was somewhat marred by a member of the fascist New Guard group who rode through the crowd on a borrowed horse, cutting the ceremonial ribbon before the premier.

To some, the bridge is simply means of getting from one side of the city to the other, while for many others it remains a symbol of hope and opportunity.

Former Governor-General of Australia, General Hurley said the bridge, says “so much about us as Australians and our capacity to overcome difficulty. That is who we were, who we are, and why I am optimistic about our future.”

Today the bridge represents creativity, passion, humility, community, grit and stealth, resilience and strength.

Beneath its grand arches and its surrounds, lies the Opera House, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Museum of Contemporary Arts, restaurants and cafes, hotels, shops, and buskers, ferries, private yachts and chartered boats.

It’s also home to Sydney's famous New Year’s Eve fireworks show, and is often used as an installation site for powerful social conversations and celebrations.

So, in celebrating 90-years of the Harbour Bridge, it seems only apt that finally in a gesture that will provide long-overdue recognition to traditional landowners, the Australian and Aboriginal flags will soon fly side-by-side all year round on one of the countries great symbolic monuments.

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