G R E AT B R I D G E S O F T H E W O R L D

As the first article in our new ongoing series

Sydney
Harbour
Bridge

Great Bridges of the World, we thought it only

fitting that we feature our own Sydney Harbour
Bridge icon of a nation, and truly one of
worlds great bridges.

Icon of a Nation
he Sydney Harbour Bridge has been the
embodiment of the Nation since its construction
began in the third decade of the twentieth
century. Here we present the inside story of the
challenges that were faced and met. There were some
real surprises and ingenious solutions.
The bridge was one of the most significant
engineering feats of its era and a powerful symbol of
pride and hope not just for Sydney, but also for our
nation. It had a dramatic impact on peoples lives,
creating a new vision for Sydney, employment and
scope for urban expansion, while also inspiring
painters, poets and photographers.

26 Highway Engineering in Australia - April / May 2010

Capturing all the drama is a book called Bridging

Sydney Edited by Caroline Mackaness, that brings
together specially written essays with dramatic
photographs and paintings of rare and previously
unseen alternative bridge and tunnel proposals, plans
and sketches in a celebration of the citys much-loved
icon. The lavishly illustrated book was first published
in conjunction with the Bridging Sydney exhibition
and is available from the Museum of Sydney Shop.
(See details at the end of this article). Caroline
Mackaness and the Historic Houses Trust (responsible
for the MOS) have very kindly given permission to
share these extracts from the book with our readers.

G R E AT B R I D G E S O F T H E W O R L D

Excavation for Western Skewback Dawes Point, 22 April 1926

Source: Sydney Harbour Bridge Photographic Albums, Main Bridge Vol. 2 State Records NSW. Photographer unknown.

Excavation for the skewbacks

The four skewbacks for the bridge are the
massive concrete footings or foundations
at the base of the abutment towers and
pylons. The bridges main bearings rest
upon the inclined face of the concrete,
which takes the thrust of the main arch.
One of the deciding factors in the choice of
bridge and its location was the solid
foundation provided by the Hawkesbury
sandstone on the shores of Sydney
Harbour. This was confirmed when a series
of diamond drill bores were sunk at the
sites of the main piers at Dawes Point and
Milsons Point as early as 1917.
The bores indicated that a satisfactory
foundation for the piers could be obtained
at about 15 ft below mean sea level. The
first bore at Dawes Point passed through
hard sandstone, and at a depth of some 50
ft through a thin bed of carbonaceous
shale. Excavation work began at Dawes
Point in January 1925. Dorman Long
decided to build the foundations deeper
than originally specified to ensure a
reliable base free from weak seams of clay

and shale. The final depth and form of the

base for each skewback was determined
according to the actual character of the
rock below the excavation. The rock was
blasted and then removed by cranes and
skips and delivered into hopper barges at
the waterfront for discharge at sea. The first
batch of concrete for the southern bridge
foundation was mixed on 20 April 1926 by
the Governor, Sir Dudley de Chair, and by
November the first concrete was poured in
the northern skewbacks.
The skewbacks are of concrete and
transmit the thrust from the pedestals to the
solid sandstone of the foundations where the
pressure will be reduced to about 200 lbs. per
square inch; about 14 tons per square foot.
Each skewback is 40 feet wide and 90 feet
long and is founded at least 30 feet below
ground surface into solid rock. On account of
a thick band of shale the excavations for the
skewbacks on the southern side had to be
carried somewhat deeper than contract, but
on the northern side the foundations were as
anticipated. JJC Bradfield 1930
Highway Engineering in Australia - April / May 2010

27

G R E AT B R I D G E S O F T H E W O R L D

Concreting
the skewbacks
The concrete foundation of the skewback
was built up carefully, layer by layer, with
the formula for the concrete varying
according to its location and purpose.
The concrete was mixed in a Ransome I
cubic yard mixer and then deposited using
bell skips. The first layer that was poured in
direct contact with the rock foundation was
laid in special hexagonal formations.
Each section was completed in a single
operation and allowed to set before the
next section was poured, with two days
between lateral sections and seven between
the layers vertically. The sectional construction continued to a level just below the
ends of the holding-down bolts of the
bearings. Another layer of concrete then
held the bolts in position. At the top of the
skewbacks, immediately under the main
bearings, special reinforcing and highgrade concrete were used. For this layer the
concrete was poured continuously, starting
at 6 am, and the 170 cubic yards were
placed and thoroughly packed in 14 hours.
Special consideration was given to pouring
the concrete, the method adopted minimised
the amount of shrinkage of the concrete, is
economical in formwork, and divides the
work into sections which conformed with the
daily output of the concreting plant.

Western Skewback Dawes Point, 6 July 1926

Source: Sydney Harbour Bridge Photographic Albums, Main Bridge Vol. 2 State Records NSW. Photographer unknown.

The blocks are hexagonal in shape, extending

40 feet across the full width of the skewback.
Directly under the base of the steel pedestals
supporting the hinges of the main arch is a
layer of special reinforced concrete, and
between this and the body of the skewback is
a section of special concrete in which the
anchor bolts are secured. The body of the
skewback is built up of the hexagonal blocks.

For the layer of special concrete directly

beneath the main bearings, the concrete was
mixed in the proportions of 1 part cement,
part Nepean sand and 2 parts crushed
granite. This concrete has developed at
28 days a crushing strength of 430 tons
per square foot, at three moths 530 tons per
square foot, and at six months 545 tons
per square foot. JJC Bradfield 1929

with granite, the City Railway of similar

materials, thus humanising our landscape
in simplicity, strength and sincerity and,
I hope, beauty. Despite objections that the
pylons were an unnecessary expense, the
Minister had been convinced by Bradfields
persuasive case and approved the work as
part of the accepted tender.
The granite faced towers and pylons, simple
and elegant, are the architectural features of
the bridge and harmonise with the lines of the
arch. These pylons, the tops of which are 285
feet above mean sea level, give an expression
of solidity to the abutment towers which resist
the enormous thrusts from the arch, and by
their weight steepen the resultant arch thrust,

and so minimise the size of the skewback foundations.The towers have a definite function to
perform in the erection scheme of the arch as
well as to add to the architectural adornment
of the structure, which would otherwise be
purely utilitarian. JJC Bradfield 1930
From the ground to deck level the
abutment towers are hollow, rectangular
concrete chambers, 223 feet face width and
162 feet long, stiffened by interior concrete
walls. The two pylons above deck level
measure 81 feet by 47 feet and are also of
hollow reinforced concrete construction and
each is pierced by an arch opening through
which the outer railway track and the
footway pass. JJC Bradfield 1930

The pylons
The bridge pylons were designed in an
Art Deco style by Thomas Tait, a partner in
the firm of Sir John Burnet and Partners
Architects, of London. The design was
based on the outline of the pylons in
Dorman Longs tender A2, but without the
massive abutment arch and with granite
facing. Bradfield had presented a strong
case for the inclusion of the pylons and the
use of granite facing for both the pylons
and piers on aesthetic grounds. He believed
the cost (estimated at about 750,000 for
the pylons) was justified for this significant
engineering work, which he saw as an
important monument to the achievements
of his generation that would both stand
the tests of time and the judgment of
generations to come. Future generations
will judge our generation by our works. The
Bridge, strong, imperishable, standing four
square to every wind that blows, will be
constructed of steel and concrete faced
28 Highway Engineering in Australia - April / May 2010

G R E AT B R I D G E S O F T H E W O R L D

Building the pylons

The pylons, founded throughout on rock,
posed particular design and construction
challenges. The contractors engineers
sought advice from British civil, electrical
and mechanical engineer Dr Oscar Faber, an
expert on reinforced concrete structures,
about the design of the external walls of
the pylons and the concrete abutments of
the arch and how to avoid undefined
shrinkage in the concrete foundations. The
lower portion of each pylon up to bridge
deck level was built first and is a massive
construction consisting of concrete walls
formed against timber shuttering and large
stones each weighing between 5 and 9
tons, which together form a single tower.
The walls were built in two sections an
inner section of concrete that was built first,
and an outer section of concrete and granite. Above deck level the pylons continue as
two towers one each side of the bridge
and pierced longitudinally by arched openings. Reinforced concrete floors stiffen the
pylon structure horizontally and they are
capped with a reinforced concrete roof. A
system of steel staircases provided access
through the structure.

The bridge was manufactured in

sections on a site on the western side
of Milsons Point. About eighty percent of
the steel came from England while
the remaining twenty percent was
manufactured in Australia.
The construction of the arch progressed
from both sides of the harbor with cable
support for the arches. In 1930 the two
arches met. The construction of the deck
then proceeded from the middle
outwards towards each shore, which
alleviated the need to move the
construction cranes back to the Pylons
before commencing construction.
When the bridge opened on 19 March
1932, it was the longest single span
steel arch bridge in the world.
The main span is 503 metres
(1,650 feet) across it consumed more
than 52,800 tonnes of silicon-based

Mixing concrete for the bridge.

Source: RTA Archives
Photographer unknown

Chemical analysis of the steel and concrete used in the bridge

was undertaken at Sydney Universitys School of Engineering
Source: Dr Bradfield Collection, State Records NSW
Photographer: Robert Bowden

For building the walls of the pylon structure

up to deck level (about 155 ft. above datum)
two 7 ton steam derrick cranes with 110 ft. jibs
were mounted on four timber towers, 105 feet
high, braced together and built up within the
area of the pylon walls, the base of the towers
standing on rock. To complete the pylons
above the 155 ft. level, the timber towers previously used on the ground were modified
and re-erected at this level to carry the two 7
ton derrick cranes.
Dorman, Long & Co. 1932
The above extracts are taken from Bridging Sydney,
edited by Caroline Mackaness, printed by Thames
& Hudson and the Historic Houses Trust.

steel trusses. The plates of steel

are held together by around six
million steel rivets. It originally carried
road transport, trains and pedestrians.
Today the Harbour Bridge still ranks
in the top three in the world in terms
of span, however, it is still widely
considered to be the greatest bridge
of its type in the world because
of its load bearing capacity and width
of nearly 50 metres.
From start to finish, the bridge and its
approaches it took eight years to
complete, including a period of
post construction maintenance that
extended for a six months after the
opening.
Maintenance after the completion
became (and still is) the responsibility of
the New South Wales State Government.
The two eastern lanes were originally

tram tracks. These were converted back

to roadway when Sydney abolished its
trams in the 1950s. Today the Sydney
Harbour Bridge carries eight traffic lanes
and two rail lines. One of the eastern
lanes is now a dedicated bus lane.

Where to get the book

Bridging Sydney
- This massive
2.5Kg publication
is a compilation
of specially written articles that
capture the imagination of the reader
while providing a solid historical basis,
and is sure to become a collectors item.
Available from the Museum of Sydney
bookshop at around $95. Call 02 9251
4678, or visit www.hht.net.au

Highway Engineering in Australia - April / May 2010

29

G R E AT B R I D G E S O F T H E W O R L D

Who designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

While the public, and indeed much of the
engineering community, have it firmly fixed
in their minds that the harbour bridge was
designed by Dr JJC Bradfield (the Chief
Engineer for the for the Bridge and city
transit system), according to many experts
and historians, the role of Ralph Freeman,
the consulting engineer and detail designer
of the bridge and one of the world's experts
on the type of construction method
employed is all too often overlooked.
Ralph Freeman was the design consultant
to the bridge builders Dorman Long and as
such designed and carried out the detailed
design calculations in his London office
with a staff of some 20 to 30 engineers to
handle the complex business of building
one of the world's most complex structures.
Ralph Freeman was a partner of Freeman
Fox, one of the world's great engineering
companies, which, with the effluxion of
time, became Hyder, a global company, with
its Australia Pacific headquarters in Sydney.
Apparently, there was a huge spat between

30 Highway Engineering in Australia - April / May 2010

Freeman and Bradfield about who was

entitled to the term Designer of the bridge,
to the point where they were constantly in
the press in a highly intemperate manner
(during 1928).
In his book Spanning Two CenturiesHistoric Bridges of Australia, Colin OConnor
says, The question is often asked who
really designed the Sydney Harbour
Bridge? The final detailed design differs
from Bradfields and was carried out by Sir
Ralph Freeman, of Dorman Long.

However, the differences are small, and it

would probably be more accurate to say
that Freeman modified Bradfields design.
Peter Lalor in his book The Bridge devotes a whole chapter to the controversy
between Bradfield and Freeman as to who
should be credited as the designer of the
bridge. Lalor concludes that:
Freeman certainly was responsible for
the exact design of the Sydney Harbour
Bridge we know today but that bridge
would not be where it is, how it is or even in
existence if it were not for Bradfield.
The dispute often degenerated into an
England vs Australia issue; a Mother
Country vs Colony issue, and to this extent it
has been compared to the infamous
Bodyline Ashes Series of 1929! The fight
continued into the wording of the plaque
on the bridge, where legal intervention by
Dorman Long finally ensured that
Freemans design role be recognised (but it
does acknowledge both appropriately
in the end).