Episode Three: Six Million Rivets

In 1918-19 an influenza pandemic took an estimated 15,000 Australian lives, and millions more around the world. One hundred years on, as we grapple with COVID-19, this five-part series rakes through the archives of the State Library of NSW with historians, public health experts and scientists to trace the path of the 1918-19 pandemic. An eerily familiar story of loss, resilience and discovery in a world turned upside down.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is more than a harbour crossing. It’s a place of celebration, protest, adventure and inspiration.

The opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 19 March 1932 was shared by a million people. Although it was a celebration, it was not without politics and drama.

Building the Harbour Bridge was no easy feat, taking over 8 years, 6 million hand-driven rivets, 1400 labourers and the lives of 16 people.

Floating bridges, swing bridges, span bridges, subaqueous bridges, even filling in the harbour were all proposals to join a growing city.

An ever-expanding colonial city in need of a harbour crossing that would take 100 years to realise.