Seminar paper (Sydney Harbour Bridge) - Essay Example

of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and how the author uses the theories of Roland Barthe to explain the depoliticisation, as well as the aura and allure of the bridge. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, opened in March 1932, was a spectacular event in Sydney’s history1. It was one of the major engineering feats of the twentieth century, and is the largest though not the longest one-bow bridge in the world. The construction of the bridge was a remarkable accomplishment in the years of the Great Depression, using labour-intensive technology.

The Bridge crosses from Dawes’ Point on the downtown side to Milsons’ Point on the North Shore2. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate what Carl Hooper means by the ‘depoliticisation’ of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and how Hooper uses Roland Barthes’ theories to explain this depoliticisation, and the aura and allure of the bridge. harbour”3. A steel deck hangs from the arch, and each side are five steel truss approach spans. The hinges or bearings support the entire weight of the bridge, and allow it to move with expansion and contraction of the bridge, with temperature changes.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was part of the Bradfield Plan, named after the engineer John J.C. Bradfield who conceptualized the detailed and comprehensive plan4. Besides solving Sydney’s transport problems of that time, he foresaw the city’s future transport formulating the plan, he took care to orient the Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the future. There is provision of four railway lines, six-lane roadway for vehicular traffic, and two wide footwalks. “Adequate transport facilities between the city and Northern suburbs enable 1,000,000 people to reside on the northern side of the Harbour without unduly congesting traffic”5.

With a view to overseas developments and their impacts on the local waterway traffic, adequate size of the vessels and ample waterways for the mammoth liners of the future were provided for6. Carl