On the Sydney Harbour Bridge...

[khiemtran]

Last Sunday, we took Liem on his first walk across the Harbour Bridge, one of Sydney's great walks.

Want to join us? First, you have to find these stairs, which will take you up to the pedestrian walkway.




The walkway runs alongside the traffic. Technically, the road on the bridge is called the Bradfield Highway, and is thus one of the shortest highways in Australia. The Bradfield highway is also a designated Travelling Stock Route, which means it is technically possible to herd livestock across it (between midnight and dawn), as long as you have obtained the right permissions.



As you can see, there are high fences on each side, to prevent suicides or illegal climbing.



Luckily, there are enough gaps in the fencing to allow for great views across the bay.



The span of the arch is just over five hundred metres. As you walk across the harbour, it feels like you're flying over the water.



It's also a long way down, as shown by this picture taken as we were still over land.



It was a nice sunny day and the pedestrian walkway was quite busy. Some people even commute to work this way. Others were jogging. A great view, but you're also breathing in a lot of car fumes.



A detail of the north end of the arch. I think that grey box at the top is a type of lift or winch.



Barbed wire to stop climbers. Prison island, anyone?



Just in case you didn't get the message...



Another view of the main arch. As you can see, there are walkways and ladders all the way up, to allow for maintenance and painting.



You can see here how the paint has come off one section and it looks like there's rust on one of the vertical girders.



Some of the pylons are also accessible for a small fee. In the bottom right, you can see one of the members of a BridgeClimb tour starting his ascent. The BridgeClimbers walk all the way to the highest point of the arch.



Here's the stairway that gets them up onto the arch.



Ever wondered how many rivets in takes to hold together a bridge like this?

Comments

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Great photos, thank you. :)

Barbed wire to stop climbers.

Huh - Better drowned than duffers, if not duffers, won't drown. ;) Although, of course, you'd want to protect the traffic from falling bodies. Hmmmm, electrified mesh nets? *g*

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

There are also electric train power lines somewhere in the mix. They had to stop the trains in peak hour not too long away when a piece of metal came loose and dangled over the wires.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, the barbed wire is a little intense! But I love the view of the sailing ship and the opera house, and I'd love to be there between midnight and dawn for some rolling stock. In a town near here they have an event each year called "the strolling of the heifers" (as opposed to the running of the bulls), which surely could only be improved if it were held between midnight and dawn, and featured a massive bridge.

(And that is a quite a stunning collection of rivets.)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

According to wikipedia (which, as you know, is never wrong), they haven't actually used it as a stock route for fifty years. Although they do run the Sydney marathon over it, plus they seem to have a picnic day every now and then (every year?) where they stop the traffic and let people have lunch over the water.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'd like to come out for that picnic.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Here's a link: http://www.cravesydney.com/cmspage.php?intid=391&linkid=413

Looks like it's actually breakfast rather than lunch, which makes a bit more sense.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I never wondered before about the rivets, but I am now! :P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I'm a little concerned about how much rust is showing through... You don't get to see that when you flash past in a car or train.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the virtual walk. It looks amazing, but sadly is one I am unlikely ever to do for real. Your photos give a good impression of the height and the scale of the bridge.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope you do manage to get out here one day.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

It's also a long way down, as shown by this picture taken as we were still over land.

That's a lot higher than I was expecting before I scrolled down from the legend to the photo!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, and surprisingly, there are still cruise ships that struggle to fit underneath.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Not surprising to me; I've seen the size of those things!