The Pylons

Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout

The Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout museum has a fascinating history. In 1934, it was opened as a tourist venue. It included a camera obscura, an Aboriginal museum, a ‘Mother's Nook’ (a place to write dutiful letters home) and a 'pashometer' on which visitors could measure their sex appeal!

Believe it or not, the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s four magnificent concrete-and-granite pylons serve no real structural purpose. In fact, they don’t even touch the Bridge except at road level! The pylons were added to provide aesthetic balance. The full weight of the Bridge is supported by massive steel posts and abutments housed in the base of the pylons.

Nonetheless, constructing these visual aids was an enormous job. It took 250 Australian, Scottish and Italian stonemasons to prepare the granite used as facing on the pylons. During the course of construction they lived with their families in a temporary settlement at the quarry site near Moruya, 300km south of Sydney.

Today all four pylons are put to good use - the southwestern tower is used by traffic authorities and the two northern towers serve as air vents for the Harbour tunnel. The southeastern tower is home to the fascinating Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, which includes a museum and detailed history of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout

You can climb 200 stairs to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, overlooking the World Heritage listed Sydney Opera House, 87 metres above the Harbour. On the way up you will pass three levels of historic displays, focussing on the vision of chief engineer JJC Bradfield, the dangerous work of building the Bridge and the controversy of the opening ceremony that was hijacked by Captain Francis de Groot of the New Guard. The massive 10-year labour of the Bridge workers is commemorated with two stained-glass memorial windows.

To visit the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, go up the Bridge Stairs just south of BridgeClimb’s Climb Base then walk North along the Bridge’s pedestrian footway. The Pylon Lookout is open 10am to 5pm daily. Admission is $9/3.50 for adults/children, children seven and under are free.

With incredible views of the World Heritage listed Sydney Opera House, it’s a great place to visit and take photos after your BridgeClimb.

You can download the Pylon eBrochure here.