---
node: spot_sydney_sydney_harbour_bridge
type: spot
slug: sydney_harbour_bridge
destination: dest_sydney
title: "Sydney Harbour Bridge"
lead: "The Sydney Harbour Bridge is the steel arch that has carried road, rail and foot traffic across the harbour since 1932. Locals call it the Coathanger, and its arch is the city's other signature outline."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_sydney_sydney_harbour_bridge.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sydney_Harbour_Bridge_from_Circular_Quay.jpg"
image_author: "JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/)"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 3.0"
---

## Overview

Built through the Depression by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, the bridge spans 503 metres and rises 134 metres above the water. Its two halves were cantilevered out from each shore and met in the middle in 1930. It remains the working spine of the city: eight traffic lanes, two rail tracks, a cycleway and a pedestrian path.

## Highlights

The eastern footway is free and open all day, and the walk from Milsons Point to The Rocks takes about twenty minutes. The Pylon Lookout inside the southeast pylon gives a high view for a small fee; the BridgeClimb takes you over the arch itself. Underneath, Dawes Point and Hickson Road Reserve frame the arch against the Opera House.