When Ron and Pam Dures received some possessions from a late aunt, little did they realise it would include a 50th anniversary edition celebrating the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
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The bridge turns 85 on March 19.
The Wauchope couple said they were surprised to find the anniversary edition amongst the items.
“My aunt was a great collector of many things and since her passing we occasionally go looking around some of the items,” Mr Dures said.
“Anyway, we were rummaging through some paperwork the other day and came across this 50th anniversary edition of the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The bridge is such an icon – along with the Sydney Opera House and together one of Australia’s greatest attractions.”
Mr Dures said he knew little about the bridge or its construction ‘because school was more about British history than anything’.
“There was little taught about Australian history back then,” he added.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge construction started in 1924 and took 1400 men eight years to build at a cost of 4.2 million.
Six million hand driven rivets and 53,000 tonnes of steel were used in its construction.
According to Wikipedia the bridge was constructed under the direction of Dr John Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, and was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough.
The bridge's design was influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. It is the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level.
It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.
