Enjoy The View With The Express Climb At BridgeClimb Sydney

8 May 2012, Sydney – I conquered my fear of heights earlier last month at the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  With initial thoughts for not wanting to climb the bridge, I was convinced by an associate from Destination New South Wales.   It was that simple sentence she said that motivated me “You will regret not going on the BridgeClimb”.  Simple but wise motivational words.  So I picked up my courage and joined the other journalists on The Express Climb up the landmark bridge.  Incidentally, this year is the 80th anniversary of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Express Climb at BridgeClimb Sydney takes two hours fifteen minutes to complete and can accommodate up to 12 climbers while the Bridge and Discovery Climbs take three and a half hours for up to 14 climbers per session.

The pre-climb procedures were very thorough. We all had to fill in forms declaring any existing health issues and sign an indemnity before a breath test was taken to ensure any alcohol consumed previously was below safety levels.

After that, we were made to change to overalls removing everything that we were wearing except our underwear, socks and shoes. The overalls were actually quite cooling and comfortable and somewhat sexy.   I had my glasses strapped down to the overalls for safety. Even the headset and handkerchiefs provided by Bridge Climb were all fastened and secured.  Check out the Climb Preparation procedures here.

The initial climb felt a little scary albeit not being to highly elevated, or so I think. Walking on sturdy see-through meshings, our confident young guide Chris walked us through the entire journey checking that we were fine and explaining the history of the bridge as well as pointing out to interesting local attractions nearby.

 

Interesting Facts of The Bridge

• 49 metres wide – widest single-span bridge in the world
• Length of arch span – 503 metres
• Height to top of aircraft beacon – 141 metres
• Height of Pylons – 89 metres
• Total length of Bridge – 1149 metres including approach spans
• The Steel arch weighs 39,000 tons
• Bridge was built over eight years from July 1923 to March 1932 while planning started in 1912
• Dr JJC Bradfield built the bridge.  He is the ‘Father of the Bridge’ and the bridge is named afetr him ‘Bradfield Highway’
• Girders made from steel where 79% is imported from England and 21% native.
• Pylons are made of concrete faced in granite which is quarried from a city 200km from Sydney, Moruya
• Around 6 million rivets, 52,800 tonnes of steelwork and 17,000 cubic metres of granite used
• Largest rivet weighed 3.5kg and was 395 mm long
• 272,000 litres of paint were required to give the Bridge its initial three coats
• Eight vehicle lanes, two train lines, a foot path and a cycleway
• There were two tram lines when the bridge first opened which were replaced with buses on 29 June 1958
• An average of 161,000 vehicles use the bridge daily
• The one-billionth vehicle crossed the Sydney Harbour Bridge in June 1976

AirAsia X currently operates daily flights between Sydney and Kuala Lumpur.  Read about it here.

Photo Credits: BridgeClimb Sydney

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