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Sydney Harbour Bridge
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<p>The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel <a href="/facts/Through_arch_bridge/zquGeW4S">through arch bridge</a> in <a href="/facts/Sydney/8TegRcwB">Sydney</a>, <a href="/facts/New_South_Wales/aW7eJXSS">New South Wales</a>, <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>, spanning <a href="/facts/Port_Jackson/uFgAR2ne">Sydney Harbour</a> from the <a href="/facts/Sydney_central_business_district/pltXArXz">central business district</a> (CBD) to the <a href="/facts/North_Shore_(Sydney)/LVbcbarU">North Shore</a>. The view of the bridge, the Harbour, and the nearby <a href="/facts/Sydney_Opera_House/K378spe2">Sydney Opera House</a> is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney, and of Australia itself. Nicknamed "the Coathanger" because of its arch-based design, the bridge carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. </p><p>Under the direction of <a href="/facts/John_Bradfield_(engineer)/3RaYvUhk">John Bradfield</a> of the <a href="/facts/NSW_Public_Works/FYgvbh0t">New South Wales Department of Public Works</a>, the bridge was designed and built by British firm <a href="/facts/Dorman_Long/zvFJ0Su6">Dorman Long</a> of <a href="/facts/Middlesbrough/Ffefeyvl">Middlesbrough</a>, and opened in 1932. The bridge's general design, which Bradfield tasked the NSW Department of Public Works with producing, was a rough copy of the <a href="/facts/Hell_Gate_Bridge/4sVvRWGp">Hell Gate Bridge</a> in <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York City</a>. The design chosen from the tender responses was original work created by Dorman Long, who leveraged some of the design from its own <a href="/facts/Tyne_Bridge/NpBdanhq">Tyne Bridge</a>. </p><p>It is the <a href="/facts/List_of_the_largest_arch_bridges/Dhlf8s6v">tenth-longest spanning-arch bridge</a> in the world and the tallest steel <a href="/facts/Arch_bridge/oGQeFjp2">arch bridge</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Port_Mann_Bridge/LwqGCpl6">Port Mann Bridge</a> in <a href="/facts/Vancouver/rn2AKA1n">Vancouver</a> was completed in 2012. </p>