Sydney Harbor Bridge Research Paper

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Recommended: Mathematics behind Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbor Bridge

Typically when someone sees a bridge, they don't realize how much work is put into a single bridge. They could not imagine how mathematics would even go into bridges. Keeping a bridge up like the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia is a tough job since it was first opened in 1932. It also is known to be the world's largest steel arch bridge. This bridge is very large but it is not the longest steel arch bridge in the world. There are many types of bridges in the world but this very bridge is a very well known "through arch" bridge.

Most bridges people imagine is ones that have arches above or below the deck. The deck is the part of the bridge that allows traffic to go from one side to another for transportation. The "through arch" bridge is like a hybrid of both worlds. The arch of the bridge passes through the deck, goes over the deck, and then passes through the other side of the deck once more to make the arch. Ironically, this arch can be described as a parabola.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge deck is 503 meters long from left to right and the height to the top of the arch is 134 meters above sea level. Using some math, we can figure out where the arch would reach its highest point on the deck which …show more content…

The purpose of the bridge was simple; connect the northern to the southern shore of the harbor. Many submissions were sent in by 1900 but they were deemed not fit for the bridge. After World War 1, the bridge finally gained momentum to be thought about once again. The general design by Dr. J J C Bradfield and officers of the NSW Department of Public Works was recognized and put into plan. The New South Wales Government then called out across the globe to see who would construct this bridge the best in 1922. English firm Dorman Long and Foster of Middlesbrough took the honor and duty of constructing the bridge soon

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