My father was a Tool & Die Maker, Machinist & Journeyman Maintenance Machinist, he was old school with a depression mentality (throw nothing away) and also did plumbing, electrical, carpentry, HVAC. When he passed in 2016 he left me all his tools & machines. Guys like him were master craftsmen who could do anything with their hands and the right tool.

One of the men in this film might be my Great Uncle, Sydney Edward Addison. He immigrated from the U.K. to Australia by boat in the 1920's and worked on the bridge as an ironworker. Sadly, his spanner slipped and he fell to his death. Today, he's memorialised on a plaque next to the bridge as 1 of the 16 men who died while building the bridge.

A true Australian treasure! Timelessly beautiful, something all Aussies should be proud of.

Those workmen deserved to be greeted as Royalty, they should have been wearing those medals and arriving in limousines. Those politicians took all the praise, but the true heroes are those hard working men who risked their lives to build that beautiful bridge.

I visited Sydney about 15 years ago and one of the highlights of my trip was doing 'The Bridge Climb'. Had my photo taken with the Opera House in the background and that photo still has pride of place on my sideboard. I adored Sydney and always wanted to go back but my health won't let me make the flight nowadays (I'm in the UK). Have always told my nieces and nephews Australia was the place to go when they finished their education. A great country and a great work ethic which rewards those who make an effort.

It's just boggles my mind how they can line up two giant structures of that scale and weight to meet in the middle with the technology they had in those days. I've stood many times staring at the sheer size of the bottom hinges, and it's immense. To caculate the weight and position back in those days just boggles my mind.

Now THIS is a documentary which should serve as example HOW a documentary should be recorded and edited. As opposed to today's common format where 10 seconds historical scenes are shown, interspersed with series of interviews with experts, witnesses or neighbors.

Thank you so much for putting this fantastic film on KZfaq. I am 82 years of age and was born in New South Wales and lived in Sydney for many years. My mother, I remember her telling me when I was a boy, that she watched the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as a young working girl in an office in North Sydney, it certainly brings back memories of the time that I used to also work in the city, as a young person and crossing it in the train every day. I'm sure many of the Sydney historians will love to be made aware of this wonderful film. Thank you again.

Great film! Manual engineering, and hard manual labour, before computers and automated equipment. Satisfying to watch. Admiring the workers who gave an honest day's work.....and weren't constantly on their cellphones taking selfies and stealing time from the company.

Walked the Bridge in 1967, with my new-born Aussie daughter. Happy memories. Good on you cobber! Here's raising a schooner....to Australia.

This is a miraculous piece of architecture. My mum worked across it when she was a girl. We’ve all driven across it

I am a Singaporean. I think the harbour bridge is more of a symbol of Australia. Bunch of Aussies came together and built this engineering marvel.

Im quite fond of the old Australia & the way this country & people once was.

This is a great document, impressive memory from the 80 year old Mr Frank Lichfield narrating his memories for the original film. My most heartfelt regards go to those who were forced out of their homes to accommodate progress for this, our beautiful national icon, these were mainly poor working class areas & many had little to no compensation for their dwellings being demolished, though a few were actually offered work as a means to placate them, especially as a lot of the work happened during the height of the depression. This is a fitting testament to all those who were part of designing & building the bridge, their blood, sweat & tears can now be remembered. Bravo fellas.

My grandfather was a merchant sailor from Cardiff and his ship was one of the many that took the metalwork (made from steel made in the Northeast) out to Sydney. I have his gold pocket watch given to him on completion of his apprenticeship in 1918. Very proud to be connected to the bridge in this very small way.

Incredible how the workers were confidently walking the steel planks without any safety harnesses.

OMG this is what you call hard work! God bless to all those who survived and lost their lives building this massive beautiful and hard structure bridge, which still stands tall like it was only built yesterday! Great workmanship!

From here in the States we say you Aussies are quite the quality workmanship people! Congratulations and best of luck!

Thank you so much for uploading this. I found it extremely interesting. I grew up in Kirribilli and often walked across the bridge as a child. I have lived in Europe for the last 40+ years and whenever I go to Australia and we drive across the bridge I feel "at home".

Owing to the time period and the abilities of mechanical equipment, this was quite an accomplishment for the engineers and workmen. This was indeed quite a feat!

These men are brave as hell

It's amazing how it keeps it's age ! Probably the most gorgeous bridge in the world ! Thank you David great footage

Not long ago I drove interstate coaches, my Backpacking passengers were always amazed by the beauty and size of the bridge

Wonderful piece of engineering, entering it's 90th year of service next March 2022. Excellent documentary film.

Amazing 😊 I loved this so much. It’s almost 100 years old now. I bet they have a bridge walk for it’s 100th birthday. I wanna be there 😊. The other day as we were driving over the bridge, I noticed it’s getting rusty. Some one needs to repaint it asap if we want to preserve it

I worked Security on the bridge for a few years, we were taught a bit about the bridge and when I watched this, everything and more fell into place. It was the best office in town. Love the old girl.

Admiration and congratulations to Australia. You do build wonderful things. The Sidney Opera House is especially noteworthy. Good wishes from Arizona.

Built from Steel from North Yorkshire and designed here too then shipped out to Aus. Its a worldwide icon to this day.

Fantastic video thank you We Australians are the envy of the world with our heritage and the way we live

my uncle and auntie lived at milsons point overlooking lavender bay and he used to tell us stories of the bridge being built he could see everything from his front veranda and we would listen awe struck at what he would tell us. i miss my auntie and uncle and i miss those good old days

My grandfather worked on this project, plus the Snowy Mountain project back in the day. It is a beautiful bridge.

Amazing video, a joy to watch. Thanks for putting this up!

What is amazing documentary about one of great brides in world. Technology wasn’t developed. But Genius people were there.

This is an excellent document of the precision and extraordinary effort required to build something of this magnitude. I'm a mechanical engineer and appreciate much of what was done here. Thanks for posting this.

I have this on VHS. Purchased from the Harbour Bridge Climb shop many, many years ago. Obviously it was made available on DVD. And yes, it deserves to be seen by more people.

Thank you for uploading, great work. Quite amazing for early years....

Such a wonderful resource to have. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Thanks so much for sharing that piece of history .

Incredible video, thank you for posting. According to the IEAust (Ch.Eng) the rivets alone (disregarding the cross struts, and arch material) on the arch carry 26,000 long tons of lateral compression on the top chord, and 15,000 tons or tensile potential on the bottom chord. And even though the cables have been relaxed to allow the arch to settle, they still carry 15,000 tons of tensile potential strength, as well as providing a moment of rigidity. *_IEA_* _The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a remarkable, and outstanding example of engineering brilliance and complexity, and even in the 21st Century, still stands as one of the world's engineering wonders._ _Using new, and untried construction design elements, novel materials, and alloys, and new concrete mixing technology which was unheard of at the time, it is a shining example of genial imagination and vision._ Hear, hear.

What an honor it must have been to be a part of this landmark.

Wonderful piece of history. Thank you David Male. I'll bet many of the locals were a bit sad to see the trolley tracks covered over to make way for vehicle traffic, having many memories of using it for much of their lives.

What a wonderful surprise and how warmly it comes across. Many thanks.

Thanks for uploading this - so interesting and well worth watching.

Thank you for this..absolutely loved watching it..such a fascinating story :-)

What a fantastic effort by all, this is a wonderful achievement and would be even in the 21st Century let alone in the early years of the last. Such brave and talented workers hopefully never fogotten, and the planning and setting up are stupendous. Thanks for sharing this historic film.

A very high quality documentary. Enjoyed the trip back through history. Thanks David, for posting.

Awesome Program. Thank you for the upload. Great to see our heritage Watching from Australia.

Thannk you for the upload .. this was a great watch :-) I just visited Sydney for the first time and .. this bridge is just beautiful, it really carries the soul of the place.

Such a marvel of engineering and construction! The most thrilling archival footage of construction that I’ve ever seen. I could watch this for days. Thanks for the excellent video.

Great work David and thanks for this video, a true piece of Australian history. Well done for picking it up at the flea market;-)

It's a History and a glory moment to watch this video. Thanks for the video.

My aunty Myrtle, who passed away in 2016, told me that her photo of walking across the bridge with the public was printed in the Sydney newspaper. I must visit the archives to find a copy. A magnificent public works effort. Should be more of such nation building projects.

I would like to thank those who brought us these wonderful images.

A truly memorable and interesting video...and a tribute to Australia and the men who built this truly iconic world famous bridge....Thanks for the download.

All the steel fabrication, rivet making, everything done on site - an amazing task focus and harmony to achieve something so wonderful for humanity to share the enjoyment, the fruits of all that labour.

Great video thanks for sharing.

Something that has always impressed me about the bridge was that it was designed to accommodate traffic years beyond what would have been the present volume. To construct something of that magnitude in that era with the technology that was available at the time is truly magnificent. These days, it seems that they only build roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to take the present day volume without thought for the future. This has been proven time and again in Australian cities.

Sadly this is the best piece of Infrastructure Sydney will ever see!!

Very cool, what a great flea market find! Thank you for sharing that.

Thanks for sharing! Amazing era!

this is worth my time.. thanks for posting!

I loved this vid...thanks for putting this on u-tube.those where the days when men took pride in their work and made things too last.

Why people gotta give hate about Sydney! I live here! Sydney is the best!!! So is Australia

What an amazingly technical construction for the age. No computers then, just slide rulers.

Just fantastic. Great upload, many thanks.

great video David , thankyou for showing it , my grandfather was a stone mascent for the bridge .

A really excellent presentation, thanks👌👌👌👌👏👏👏👏👏

Thank you for this magnificent record of achievement of a most marvellous structure. Chappeaux to the designer, the manufacturers and to the men of steel who put the bridge together - altogether wondrous!

This is a wonderful well edited beautiful documentary, thank you for posting and for all the work in compiling such great footage…. from Canada 🇨🇦…. I’ve been and done the BridgeWalk which offered great views of the entire city… what I noticed most was the lack of the Opera house in the background it is fascinating to see into the past.

One good part of being in construction. You get some sense of pride or accomplishment when you pass by a job that you were a part of. I feel lucky and it's nice to teach my kids about the experience.

Wonderful documentary on such a beautiful bridge. I hope to visit Sydney's Harbor Bridge.

Fantastic to see the construction in detail. I worked on this amazing bridge installing the static line for the bridge climb in the late 1990's, an awesome experience, and I'm not good with heights!

I am from Melbourne and I am amazed at the planning that went into this bridge, but safety of the day was a bit scarce, workers walking along girders with no safety harness looked a bit dangerous. It is truly an engineering marvel. Great Video.............

Excellent footage! Thank you.

600k people has watched this. So interesting that you mention that you picked up the DVD at a flea market. Thank you so much for sharing

Great find!! Love the footage of the testing of the trains - I remember my dad telling me about this and the old tram tracks on the eastern side of the bridge. I've sent a link to my dad to watch as well!

Outstanding presentation, thanks.

Balls of steel those guys. Mind blowing build. Great doco.

having worked as a crane operator/dogman in earlier life,I recall being urged to ride the hook on several occasions. Watching those shots of the men in the air without safety gear,I recall the tingling feeling in every extremity as I faced certain death . A great documentary. I also notice that it came on a DVD so I will try to find a copy for myself.

Hope I can visit that magnificent piece of engineering one day personally.

thanks for this video it was the universes best video i have ever seen i enjoyed it moved me in lots of places wow and all those hard workers

great video to see how work was performed in the old days , I wish I could have been there to watch it being made . my fathers father was a stone mascent on the bridge .

Thank David Male for excellent video, the Sydney harbour bridge is the most beautiful bridge in the word, i wish i can fly to Sydney and climb to arch.

I’m so glad the filmed this!

Thank you David - That is one heck of a lot of history that might have been lost - can't wait to climb it when we visit in 2020!

Great documentary. A time long gone now - a time when Australians built things.

What a wonderful video thankyou for sharing, I wish there were more like it.

Thank you great video 😀

Built by Doorman Long, Middlesbrough, England. My hometown!

nice video! my Dad was one year old when it opened!

Hi David, thanks for sharing this interesting video. The Sydney Harbour Bridge has always been one of my favourite places in Sydney. As a child, I travelled across the bridge by tram on the eastern side of the bridge prior to the system closing in 1958. I have also been across the bridge by train, bus and walking by foot. I often wonder how much damage is caused by the fireworks exploded on it each new year. My grandfather took photos of the Harbour Bridge as it was being built. All the very best. Robert.

The sheer quantity of engineering calculations for so complex a structure simply amaze. Any small change creates a cascade of hundreds of dependent re-calculations with considerable effort, measured in days. Today, those permutations can be run in an instant.

The video is called "The Construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge" and was made by the Institution of Engineers, Australia. Sydney Division. It was later released on a DVD. The film was made by photographer Henri Mallard from 1930 onwards and was silent. One of the supervising engineers during the construction, Frank Litchfield, added the commentary in 1969 when he was 80. Check Wikipedia for "Through Arch Bridge". In order of completion good examples are: Hell Gate Bridge, NYC finished 1917 Almost identical to the Sydney Harbour Bridge except it is smaller. It carries three rail lines. The SHB "designer" Bradfield went to see the Hell Gate Bridge soon after its completion. The Tyne Bridge built by Dorman Long was finished in 1928. Despite common belief, the Tyne Bridge was not a "prototype" for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It carries four lanes of traffic as well as footpaths. The Bayonne Bridge connecting New Jersey and Staten Island was completed in 1931. I don't know how many lanes of traffic it carries. It was to have pillars or pylons at each end, like the Hell Gate and SHB, but money ran out. On the Hell Gate Bridge and SHB the lower section of the pylons help support the roadway. The upper sections are purely cosmetic, in fact on the SHB one of the pylons houses a museum and a steel staircase enables people to reach the viewing area at the top of the pylon. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed in 1932 and also built by Dorman Long. It originally carried two rail lines, two tram lines and four lanes of traffic. When trams ceased operation in Sydney they added another two traffic lanes instead, making six. Later they narrowed the four lanes on the main deck to make six. So now it carries two rail lines and eight traffic lanes as well as bike and pedestrian pathways. There are "tidal changes" on the bridge to help accommodate morning and evening rush hours. The Harbour Tunnel roughly follows the path of the bridge and has four lanes, two in each direction. There are plans to add a third harbour crossing nearby. As for my interest in all of this. I was born and brought up in Newcastle on Tyne. I married a girl from Sydney whose grandfather was the General Works Manager on the SHB, employed by Dorman Long.

Such an interesting documentary on building Sydney Harbour Bridge, Amazing, No saftey gear ,So much construction done with bare hands,,couldnt believe what I was looking at,,, thank you ,,😢AMAZING ngaira Brocas

Australians should be proud,we have come so far in such short time,such a great feet of engineering from such a young country

Special. Thank you.

If I could travel back in time this is where I’d go

A beautifully built bridge. Well done Australiaia.

Slide rule engineering at its finest.

it's an amazing documentary