About

History. Stories.

ABOUT

The BridgeClimb Pylon Lookout & Museum is located within the South-East Pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The original Sydney lookout offers spectacular views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the harbour and the city. Historic displays on all levels provide a unique insight into the past and present of Sydney’s celebrated Harbour Bridge. The South-East Pylon originally opened in 1934 as a popular tourist venue and has since had a long and eventful history as a national and international tourist attraction.

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE HISTORY

JJC Bradfield realised the dream of crossing the glistening Harbour when he steered the Sydney Harbour Bridge to its completion on 19 March 1932, after 7 years and 356 days of construction.

The timeline shows the journey of the construction and key project milestones, including the exciting moment when the two sides of the arches joined together at 10pm on 19 August 1930.

As it stands, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the world’s largest single span steel-arch bridge.

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE WORKERS

Building the Bridge required many different kinds of skills and offered some uniquely challenging occupations – riveter, stonemason, surveyor, painter, rigger and concreter. Around 1,500 people have been documented to have worked on its construction, however it has been estimated that the total number of workers was between 2,500 and 4,000.

This image illustrates the stained glass windows of the Pylon, designed by Robin Seville, one of Australia’s foremost stained glass artists, and depicts the Bridge workers.

Building the Bridge

Photos from the archives

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE HERITAGE

Transport for NSW (TfNSW), is responsible for maintaining the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is part of the National Estate.

In 1998, TfNSW completed the preparation of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Conservation Management Plan, and in 1999 the Bridge was listed on the State Heritage Register as an item of exceptional cultural significance.

The conservation policies in this plan are being implemented by TfNSW and BridgeClimb.

"Future generations will judge our generation by our works..."

DR JJC Bradfield, chief engineer of the sydney harbour bridge (1924)

Modern day

ABOUT BRIDGECLIMB

BridgeClimb Sydney is proud to operate the Pylon Lookout & Museum and be able to share the history of our spectacular Harbour Bridge with the world.

Since 1998 BridgeClimb has proudly hosted locals and tourists alike to scale the arches of the iconic ‘Coathanger’ and witness the best views of Sydney. We love the Bridge and have celebrated its key milestones with Bridge workers, descendants of chief engineer JJC Bradfield, Sydneysiders and visitors from around the globe.

BridgeClimbers can scale to the summit of the internationally-adored Sydney Harbour Bridge on four different climbs; BridgeClimb Summit, BridgeClimb Insider, BridgeClimb Ultimate and the Burrawa indigenous climb experience. Climbs operate during dawn (limited departures), day, twilight and night.