Sydney Harbour Bridge View of Hangers from 1932

Update 20/12/2012: Collection of high resolution images are now available via the Powerhouse Museum online collection and Flickr Commons.

This image taken on the 7th of January 1932 has a workmen standing precariously above the Sydney Harbour bridge main deck and tramway. If you consider extent to which Sydney’s trams once moved the people of Sydney around, you can well imagine the importance of installing a tramway on Sydney’s newest bridge.

The bridges hollow steal frame structure allowed those working the bridge to not only complete the riving process but also climb unassisted to areas of the bridge not easily accessible. In the background you can see a ship passing beneath the nearly completed bridge and the suburb of Kirribilli.

This photo is from a series of glass plate prints originally taken by the Department of Public Works, Sydney Harbour Bridge Branch between 1923 and 1933. Copies of these prints have been acquired by both the State Records NSW and the Powerhouse Museum. Images from this collection will soon feature in our upcoming free sydney Harbour Bridge historical walking tour currently in production for iOS and Android devices. They will also be made available on the Powerhouse Museum’s Flickr Commons. For more information on the original glass plate negatives, greater series and contents please see the State Records of NSW and State Records Archives Investigator.

Photographer: Unknown
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Tags: 1930s, black and white, construction, electric trams, Harbour Bridge, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, sydney harbour bridge construction, trams