History and Description
The first Pyrmont Bridge was opened on 17 March 1858, and was a wooden pile bridge with a iron centre swing span. This bridge was demolished around the time new Pyrmont Bridge was opened in 1902.
The foundation stone for the new bridge was laid on 6 December 1899 by the Hon. E. W. O'Sullivan and the bridge was opened for traffic on 28 June 1902 by the Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency Sir Harry Holdsworth Rawson KGB.
The engineer was Percy Allan (1861–1930). The bridge had one of the largest swing spans in the world and it was one of the first to be powered by electricity.
Engineers Australia has recognised the bridge as a National Engineering Landmark.
The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in the 1980s, the traffic having been diverted over new freeway structures built further south of Cockle Bay, and it was then re-opened as a pedestrian bridge as part of the re-development of Darling Harbour as a recreational pedestrian precinct. It now also carries an elevated monorail which travels between Darling Harbour and the Sydney central business district. The monorail track rests on a pivot that allows the track to remain stationary while the bridge swings underneath, so monorails can continue to cross even when the bridge is opened.
The Pyrmont swing bridge is not to be confused with the similar Glebe Island Swing Bridge also engineered by Percy Allan a year later in 1903.
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Pyrmont Bridge mid-swing.
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The swinging operation is controlled from a tower in the centre of the bridge.
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The arc-shaped split between bridge sections is shown here.
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Pyrmont Bridge (with monorail)
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Monorail travelling over Pyrmont Bridge while the bridge is open.
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The Harbourside monorail station is located adjacent to the western end of the bridge.
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Darling Harbour overview, Pyrmont Bridge at centre right.
Read more about this topic: Pyrmont Bridge
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