75th Anniversary of the Sydney Harbour BridgePrint Page

The plaque commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and honours the sixteen workers who were killed in its construction. 

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is one of Sydney`s most famous landmarks. Completed in 1932, the construction of the bridge was an economic feat as well as an engineering triumph. The bridge was built by 1400 workers, 16 of whom were killed in accidents during construction.

On 18 March 2007, the 75th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge was celebrated. The occasion was marked with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Governor, Marie Bashir and the premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma. The bridge was subsequently open to the public to walk southward from Milsons Point or North Sydney. Several major roads, mainly in the CBD, were closed for the day. An Aboriginal smoking ceremony was held at 19:00.

Approximately 250,000 people (50,000 more than were registered) took part in the event. Bright yellow souvenir caps were distributed to walkers. A series of speakers placed at intervals along the bridge formed a sound installation. Each group of speakers broadcast sound and music from a particular era (e.g. King Edward VIII`s abdication speech; Gough Whitlam`s speech at Parliament House in 1975), the overall effect being that the soundscape would "flow" through history as walkers proceeded along the bridge. A light-show began after sunset and continued late into the night, the bridge being bathed in constantly changing, multi-coloured lighting, designed to highlight structural features of the bridge. In the evening the bright yellow caps were replaced by orange caps with a small, bright LED attached. The bridge was closed to walkers at about 20:30.

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