SYDNEY BRIDGE

Southland Times, Issue 21661, 24 March 1932, Page 11

SYDNEY BRIDGE

TUNNEL ORIGINALLY SUGGESTED NEARLY £3,000,000 IN WAGES. Tho outstanding event in current Australian history is undoubtedly the completion and opening of the Sydney Harbour bridge. It seems a long way back to the year 1815, when even then, the construction of a bridge seemed desirable, for, in the year mentioned Francis H. Greenway, Government architect, advocated the building of a fort at Observation Hill with the construction of a bridge in the vicinity to the North Shore across the harbour. This proposition camo to nought. In tho years that followed, many schemes were formulated, and several ideas advanced for spanning the harbour, but nothing was accomplished until 1890, when ,a Royal Commission of inquiry was appointed, and came to the conclusion that, should connection between tho northern and southern shores prove to be necessary then that connection should take the form of a bridge rather than the alternative scheme of providing a tunnel under the harbour, and further, that if it was possible for a bridge to be thrown across in one span, then such a plan should be adopted. Ten years later the first definite action took place, when the late Mr E. W. O'Sullivan, then Minister of Works, called for competitive designs and tenders. Several changes of State Government saw various attempts to proceed with almost as many varieties of types of bridge, including span, cantilever, and suspension.

The next important date seemed to be July 19, 1911, when Cabinet decided on a bridge for tramway, vehicular and pedestrian traffic, with a subway in addition for railway communication. These proposals had many vicissitudes and it was not until 1916 that an Enabling Bill'was brought down in Parliament, but had the unhappy fate of being, on the two occasions on which it passed the Legislative Assembly, rejected by the Legislative Council. It remained for the year 1922 to see the Government’s assent given to the plans from which has sprung the new famous Sydney Harbour Bridge. For the past year or so, much has been said and the progress of the work described, and it seems almost impossible to provide any further pictures of this mammoth undertaking, and yet there is a romance underlying the building of this structure that has not yet been made public. If the gradual taking shape of the bridge has been spectacular and definite, so has the fabrication of the various members of the bridge, as they were fashioned in the workshops of the contractors, Messrs Dorman Long and Co. Ltd. Some of the Equipment Used. Many and varied were the machines used and one could have spent, a great number of hours watching the operation of each. These machines included large reamers, hydraulic rivetting machines, batteries of Asquith drilling machines, and on the bridge itself, hydraulic jacks, rivetters, cranes, etc. Special mention should be made of the

steel sawing machine which was used to cut through steel angles measuring up to 12in x 12in. This steel sawing machine was of such construction that each tooth could bo removed and sharpened. Just think for a moment of these huge monsters pounding, patting, bending and fashioning • the huge steel portions of the bridge, many of them weighing many tons apiece, working day after day without letting up, and functioning perfectly. The efficiency with which this intricate machinery functioned is a wonderful tribute to science of lubrication. Just imagine how imperfectly the humble sewing machine would operate without a necessary drop of oil. Multiply to an incalculable degree the trouble that would arise if all the huge machinery did not receive its correct lubrication. It is not too much to say that, without lubrication, tho Sydney Harbour Bridge could never have come to fruition. The bridge ranks as the largest and heaviest arch bridge in the world, although 25 inches shorter than the recently constructed bridge in New York. It is 160 feet wide as against a width of 90 feet of the American structure, and its arch contains 37,000 tons of steel as against 16,000 tons of its American rival. Important Part Played by Lubrication. The lubricants most extensively used were supplied by the Vacuum Oil Co .Pty. Ltd. —light oils for use in the high speed machinery, such as electric generators and motors, soluble oils for the hydraulic rivetters, and heavier lubricants for cranes and other heavy machinery. To the two creeper cranes that placed the arch members fell the work of hoisting into position every main piece of material that went to build up the arch, roadway column, and deck. They had to respond to every movement of the control mechan-

ism, and be capable of exact placement by the controlling workmen. Correct lubrication of every bearing, gear, chain, and wire rope was essential. The granite for the facing of the huge pylons at the end of the bridge was quarried and shaped at Marouya, New South Wales, being shipped to Sydney, ready for placing in position. Even at the quarry, machinery played its part, for we find two 309 horse power engines that supplied the power for the quarrying and finishing equipment. The expenditure in Australia totalled over £3,000,000, much of this having been paid away in salaries and wages. In regard to the calibre of the workmen, it is sufficient to quote from the report by Mr Lawrence Ennis, 0.8. E., director of construction, in which he states: ‘’The Australian workman proved to be as good a tradesman as any I have had experience with in Britain or America. They gave ILS of their very best, and the successful completion of the work could never have been attained without their whole-hearted co-operation.”