GREAT PAGEANT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 153, 26 December 1931, Page 10

GREAT PAGEANT

THE SYDNEY BRIDGE:

OPENING CEREMONIES

WEEK'S FESTIVITIES

(From "The Post's" Representative) ! SYDNEY, 17th December. Depression or no depression, SydneJJ has determined that the opening of th» Harbour Bridge <m 19th March will bei one of the most memorable events' mi its memorable history. The scmi-ofiU cial committee which has had the de« tails of the programme in hand has de« cided upon a week of festivities, an 4 this fact has been made known all over, the world by short-wavo wireless broadcasts and by the distribution of.iiun* dreds of gaily coloured posters symboli* cal of the sunshine for which the -city] is justly famed. It is confidently. ex« pected that thousands of visitors', will be attracted from all parts of the globej and Sydney is' anxious that they will not go away with any false impressions, reeling- that the celebrations will pro* vide a great fillip to trade, the big retailers have generously tar , the fund—so much so that the cost of! \ the celebrations to the impoverished Lang Government will be infinitesimal* The actual ceremony will be pei> formed by the Premier (Mr. - Lang). This in itself will bo a novelty, for Mr. Lang has a horror of social activity, and invariably delegates suck duties to another inemLer of- his Cabinet. The State Governor, Sir Phili]» Game, will preside, but the actual cutting of the ribbon will be. done by Mr. Lang. It will be the duty' of the Gov* ernor to unveil various memorial tab* lets which will be a feature of tha huge pylons on cither side of the harbour. These pylons, taller than any] building in Sydney to-day, and very* much inoro massive than moat, are now; rapidly nearing completion. Their architectural beauty greatly enhance! the majesty of the huge steel structure* which is supported from their base.

DRAFT OF PROGRAMME. A draft of the programme has , now; been completed, and the arrangement* for the opening day are as' follows:—• 10 a.m.: Official opening on tie city; approaches. Unveiling of tablets . by; the Governor. Crossing of bridge by, the official party for the celebrationg on the northern approaches.' Aerial dis- ■ play by the Boyal Australian Air Force and speed boat manoeuvre* "on. the harbour. Pageant headed by 100) school children, illustrating Australian history, progress, primary products, art, flora, etc., to move from south.to- north . across the bridge, and then return for; procession through the city.. Procession under the bridge of water craft headed by the great P. and 0. lineij Maloja, followed by the Orient liner; Orford, other sea-going vessels, ferry; and motor-boats, yachts and sailing craft. Aerial display over bridge bf t combined service,and civil aircraft. This will complete the morning eele» brations, and in the afternoon therd will be a'big cricket match on the Syd« ney Cricket Ground, a special race meeting at Randwick, a regatta on the) harbour near the bridge, an aerial bombing display and aerobatics. .over, Fort - Dcnison, Olympiad athletic, meet* ing at the Manly ,Oval, championship carnival at Bondi surf, and.exhibition, lawn tennis matches in which the leading players will take part. 'In-the-evening the'bridge, tho waterfront, ■ and. shipping/ 'will" 'be '-brilliantly> illuminated, great beams-of light reaching from thai top.of the arch into tho sky. ' The lighting scheme involves the use of thonsands of lamps, and promises to be the most brilliant display of its kind ever attempted- south of the Line. On tha harbour beneath, the bridge there will be a Venetian Carnival in which scores of gaily decorated boats will 'tak« ; part, the scene to be lighted by searchlights from the units of the Australian Navy. There will be a big night swimming car* nival at Manly and a bridge ball at the Sydney Town.Hall. ,

RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. , • On Sunday attention will be given to the religious side of the celebrations. A- great church service, in-which it is hoped all denominations will take part, will be held' on the •>southern approaches. The bridge will be. blessed by the Archbishop/ of Sydney (Dr. Wright). Monday will see the opening of the Royal Easter-Show, which will be on a much larger scale than usual, the commencement of the bowls championship carnival, all Australian golf competition, and the opening of an exhibition of paintings and-.etchings by; Australian artists. On Monday night the naval, military, and police- forces will combine in a great tattoo at the Showgrounds. During the remainder of the week the Royal .Easter Show will be open, and the athletic carnivals will be continued. * The celebrations will end on the following Saturday. Final arrangements are now being made for a thorough test of the carrying capacity of the bridge, and the engineers are digging up all the^ old engines from the loco, graveyards.' To test th« bridge 96 • engines and • tenders, weighing in all 8200 tons,'will be distributed equally on the railwayand tramway tracks. Some ( of the engines are 54 years old, and have run upward of 1,000,000 miles, but there are al» serviceable locomotive that hay» *»*> "resting" during the' itfMMMf* Never has anything Vk» the uaber «f locomotives been aumWted on k single bridge. Th# tMftl weight will be equivalent to 'tw». tens per foot on the sections tested. There is no danger of the bridge collapsing under the huge weight—the engineers know that the structure is safe —and the test is only being made to ascertain the ability of each girder to take up it« »h*r* of the strain without stretching beyond the safe elastic limits of the steel. Even if some of the girders fail the bridge would still be safe.

LARGEST BRIDGE OF ITS KIND. Sydney likes to feel that iU bridge is the biggest-structure of its i kind in the world. Official comparative-figures, in response to numerous inquirifl» .:*• garding tho principal features of -the bridge, compared with, those of other great bridges, leave no doubt as to the massive structure spanning Sydney Harbour being the widest arch bridge in the world, with its four lines.of railways, roadway, and two footways. The span of the harbour bridge is 11650 ft, and that of Kill Van Kull | Bridge, New York,1 1652 ft lin. In span.I the latter therefore beats the harbour bridge by 25 inches, but against this is ! the fact that the weight of steel in the ' arch .span of. the New York- bridge is less than half that contained in the Sydney structure. Again, the .New York bridge provides for vehicle and pedestrian traffic only, and has only one footway. The honours generally go' to Sydney Harbour Bridge. Take, again, the headway for shipping. The clearance of Sydney Harbour Bridge—l7oft at high water—enables the masts of the largest steamers trading, or likely to , trade to Sydney, to pass under the structure without any obstruction. This headway is 35ft greater than that provided under tho Brooklyn - and- -the other bridges across the East River, New York, nnd 20ft more than that under tho Forth Bridge, and underCai*.