"Captain Cook" a Sydney Travel Page by seagoingJLW

Facts about the bridge:<BR>
1. Althought the bridge appears curved, it is made only of straight pieces of steel.<BR>
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2. Thirty nine people jumped from the bridge in its first year. Three survived.<BR>
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3. During the Depression the bridge was called "the Iron Lung" because of the number of workers it kept employed and fed.<BR>
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4. Eight hundred houses were demolished to build the bridge. The owners were not compensated.<BR>
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5. The bridge arch weighs 39,006 tons. The rivets alone weigh 3200 tons.<BR>
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6. In the first years of the bridge there were no toll booths and toll collectors stood in the open air.<BR>
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7. The weight of the bridge is carried on just four bearing pins only 37 cm in diameter.<BR>
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8. In 1934, 12,000 vehicles crossed the bridge each day. By the 1980's this figure had risen to almost 160,000.<BR>
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9. The bridge span is 503 meters compared with the 1280m span of the Golden Gate Bridge.<BR>
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10. The bridge took eight years to build.<BR>
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11. The bridge expands and rises and falls about 18cm with fluctuations in temperature.<BR>
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12. The bridge rises 134 meters above sea level.<BR>
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13. The bridge has more than 100 moving parts such as sliding bearings.<BR>
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14. The bridge's most famous rigger was Paul Hogan who, after winning a talent quest in the 1970's, went on to becaome a comedian and actor.

We pass the Opera House. Did you know it took 13 years to build?