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FILE – Cans and plastic bottles brought in for recycling fill containers at a recycling center in Sacramento, Calif., July 5, 2016. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration proposed Friday, April 1, 2022, to temporarily double California’s typical nickel refunds for bottles and cans to boost recycling and help spend down a roughly $600 million surplus built up during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This bridge was built by people who owned coal mines and blast furnaces that might have melted a battleship. It’s a magnificent structure,” American writer Bill Bryson wrote of the nearly 53,000-tonne Sydney Harbor Bridge. .
Along with the Sydney Opera House, Uluru Rock and the Kangaroo, the bridge is one of Australia’s greatest symbols. Although the striking construction is already 90 years old, its design is of timeless beauty.
At the same time, it is a main traffic artery and a landmark of the largest and most populous city in Australia.
A look back: On March 19, 1932, when it was opened with great fanfare, the “Sydney Harbor Bridge” was a huge event. Some 750,000 people flocked to the site and set foot on the steel bridge for the first time.
“Great job done!” noted an enthusiastic commenter at the time. After seven years of construction, the bridge finally passed into the hands of the citizens, who did not hesitate to immediately seize this emblem. Footage shows a large crowd making their way onto the bridge.
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Fireworks from the 2017 New Years celebration light up the Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.
Some 1,600 workers participated in the dangerous work at height, 16 of them did not survive.
“Every day, these men would go up onto the bridge, like a soldier going into battle, not knowing if they were going to get down alive,” project manager Lawrence Ennis said at the time. But it was the time of the Great Depression, any type of work was in great demand.
“Coat Hanger” is what Sydneysiders affectionately call their icon. With an arch span of 503 meters it is one of the longest arch bridges in the world. It connects the center of the metropolis with the northern suburbs.
Since 1998, those who are not afraid of heights can even climb the arch (BridgeClimb) to a height of 134 meters, armed with harnesses and other protection measures, and live an unforgettable experience.
But the view is also spectacular from the ground. When tourists first approach the harbor from Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens or take a ferry from Circular Quay, they are stunned: the white roofs of the Opera House shimmer in the sun, and behind them the Harbor Bridge rises majestically out of the water. blue. This double whammy of architectural genius is one of the most beautiful and coveted photo motifs in the world.
“The Opera House is a magnificent building, I won’t deny it, but my heart belongs to the Harbor Bridge,” wrote Bill Bryson in his tribute to Australia “Breakfast With Kangarros.”
According to the author of various travel books, the bridge is not so solemn, but it is very dominant. “You can see him from every angle in the city and he comes into the picture like a guy who wants to be in every picture,” he says.
Actual construction work began in 1925, and in the following years six million rivets were set by hand. In August 1930 the arch was finally closed.
Including the ramps, the Harbor Bridge is 1,150 meters long and regarding 50 meters wide. On weekdays, almost 200,000 cars pass through there, moving from one part of the city to another through the eight lanes designated for automobiles. In addition, there are two railway lines and paths for pedestrians and cyclists.
In 2004, the structure even entered the Guinness Book of Records as the “widest arch bridge in the world”.
Once a year, the eyes of the whole world turn to the bridge, specifically on New Year’s Eve. When the New Year is welcomed in Australia, one of the most impressive fireworks displays in the world takes place on the Harbor Bridge.
In early 2018, another symbol of Australia burst through the middle of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. A wallaby, which is similar to a kangaroo but smaller, bounded down the eight lanes toward the city center an hour before dawn, just before rush hour. It took several police cars and horsemen to get the marsupial off the bridge.
dpa
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