Harbour Bridge Walkway - Across the Coathanger

Photo: Jorge Lascar from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)

A stop on Sydney Harbour: Rocks to Opera House, a free self-guided tour.

You're walking on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, on the free pedestrian walkway along its eastern side. Above you is the great steel arch that Sydneysiders call the Coathanger. It spans about 503 meters and rises 134 meters above the water. It took about 52,800 tonnes of steel and roughly six million rivets, all driven by hand. Sixteen workers died during construction.

The bridge was the dream of engineer John Bradfield and was built by the English firm Dorman Long. Hundreds of homes in The Rocks were demolished to make way for its approaches. It opened on March 19, 1932, with an unscripted twist: before the Premier could cut the ribbon, Francis de Groot, a member of a right-wing group, rode up on horseback and slashed it with his sword. The ribbon was retied and the ceremony went on.

Walk out as far as the first pylon for a view straight down onto the Opera House and the cove.

Getting here: Walk down to Cumberland Street and climb the Bridge Stairs near Gloucester Walk to reach the walkway on the bridge's eastern side.

Did you know?: The bridge's four granite-faced pylons hold up nothing at all: they were added largely to reassure the public that the bridge was safe. One of them now holds the Pylon Lookout, reached by about 200 steps.

Photo op: Shoot through the safety fence toward the Opera House sails and Circular Quay; early morning light from the east makes the sails glow.

More on Wikipedia: Sydney Harbour Bridge · Francis de Groot

Harbour Bridge Walkway - Across the Coathanger

Stops on this tour