Photo Memories
Completing the Tyne Bridge.
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It is sometimes suggested that the Tyne Bridge was modeled on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The records show that the tender from Dorman Long and Company of Middlesborough was accepted and the contract signed for the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 24th March 1924. The general design and specification of materials, quantities and prices were submitted by Dr. J.C. Bradfield, an Australian Engineer prior to this date. It was not until December 1924 that the tender for the Tyne Bridge was accepted and the contract signed, also by Dorman Long and Company. Excavations for the foundations of the Sydney Harbour Bridge commenced on the 5th Januaty 1925, and the actual construction began in December 1926. The construction of the arch began in November 1929, although by this time the Tyne Bridge was already completed and opened on 10th October 1928. Work had commenced on the Tyne Bridge in July 1925. It is thought this is why many people believe that the Tyne Bridge was the model for the Sydney Harbour Bridge which opened on 19th March 1932. The Tyne Bridge was opened by King George V. The New South Wales Premier, the Right Hon. John T Lang, officially declared the Sydney Harbour Bridge open. However, Royalist fanatic Captain Francis De Groot of the para- military group, the New Guard, slashed the ribbon prematurely with a sabre, prior to the official cutting declaring ' I open this bridge in the name of his Majesty The King and all the decent citizens of New South Wales'.
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