Blog 13 - Public Historical Marker

 Before the program began, I was in Sydney with my family exploring the city and participating in lots of activities. My favorite of these activities was the climb of the Sydney bridge, not only because the climb itself was awesome but because of the rich history behind the bridge. From leaving the facility to being at the peak of the bridge it took about an hour and a half, however it felt like just 30 minutes. All of the climbers had gear to keep us safe on the bridge as well as a headset to listen to the leader of the climb give us insight into the bridge and its history. Our tour guide had done the climb hundreds of times before so she knew almost everything there was to know about the bridge and the story of its creation. 

I have always been a nerd for history and statistics and it made my experience so much better to get to hear all about it during my climb. Our tour guide told us that the bridge was 1150 meters long (3770 feet) and about 134 meters (440 feet) high. When we got to the top we looked down upon the famous Opera House and the rest of the harbor and it was cool knowing that the peak of the bridge was twice as high as the peak of the opera house. After being around the opera house for a while and seeing how massive it was from ground level it was incredible to me that we were twice as high in the air. She then went on to tell us about the history of the bridge and the dispute over who was the lead designer of it. John Bradfield proposed plans for the bridge to Sydney’s Department of Public Works in 1912 but it wasn’t until 1922 that they secured proper funding and 1924 when they began construction. Sir Ralph Freeman was also hired to perform detailed design work on the bridge while Bradfield continued to oversee its creation. The construction of the bridge took about eight years and the two sides finally met in the middle in 1930 as it was finished entirely in 1932. There was a huge ceremony for the bridge opening in 1932 and there is still a major debate whether Bradfield or Freeman was its true creator. I love sightseeing and history which is why this bridge climb was such an amazing experience for me and I will always be grateful for standing atop that bridge overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

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