Tasks for students visiting the Pylon Lookout

Exhibition
Working in small groups, students complete the following work while moving
around the exhibition. Because of the nature of the layout of the exhibition,
groups may start at different displays around the building.
The information gathered at the exhibition will help students complete the
student task that accompanies the site study.
Teachers note
Depending on the size of the group going through the exhibition, it may be
difficult for all students to access some of the displays as the surrounding
space is quite small. If this is the case, groups may be allocated specific
displays from which they will be required to gather information. Students can
then share their information with the rest of the group. Information about the
layout of the exhibition can be accessed at the Pylon Lookout website:
http://www.pylonlookout.com.au/
Illustrations
Students can find a wealth of illustrations by visiting the following site:
www.pictureaustralia.gov.au. The site draws on photographs and images from
a number of Australian sources. Entering Sydney Harbour Bridge
construction into the search facility brings up hundreds of images.

The Pylon lookout numbers game

All answers found in the glass case exhibition (top level)
The number of bus lanes on the Bridge ______________
The number of arch bridges in the world that are longer than the Sydney
Harbour Bridge______________
The number of coats of paint the Bridge initially received______________
The number of traffic lanes now on the Bridge______________
The number of days short of 9 years it took to build the
Bridge______________
The number of men who died______________
The width of the Bridge in metres______________
The extra length in millimetres the Bridge can grow on a warm
day______________
The length of the Bridge in metres, including the approach
spans______________
The year construction began______________
The year the Bridge opened______________
The year the first Bridge Climb took place______________
The number of pounds it cost to build the Bridge______________
The number of vehicles crossing the Bridge each day in the year
2000______________
The amount (in square metres) of steelwork that has to be
painted______________
The number of people who had climbed the Bridge by 14 April
2003______________

Workers on the bridge

Use the display on Level 1 to answer the following questions
What were the job titles of each of these men? Write a short explanation of
what that job involved.
1. George Everndon _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. Charles Brown _______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. Bert Payne __________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. Tom Torop __________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Find the quotes from these workers. Who said each one? What does each
quote tell us about that persons experiences while working on the bridge?
You had to hang on by your eyelashes.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
The sparks used to fly and Id often have burns on my neck and arms.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
I can virtually cross the bridge today and suggest that I had my ruler on every
one of the holes that those rivets filled up.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
There were 6 million rivets used in the bridge.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Safety on the bridge

Use the information on the entrance level to answer the following
Write down three pieces of safety equipment (and what they are for) that the
bridge workers did not have.
1. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Ideas for a bridge

Use the information in the displays in level 2 to answer the following questions
1. What type of transport was increasingly used to cross the harbour from the
1840s onwards?
______________________________________________________________
2. What type of transport was increasingly used to connect the city centre
with the northern suburbs from the 1880s onwards?
______________________________________________________________
3. Look at the design for a harbour bridge drawn by Norman Selfe. What
does it have in common with the modern bridge?
______________________________________________________________
4. O, who will stand at my right hand, and build the bridge with me?
Who spoke these lines in the 1880s?______________________________
Suggest a reason why he would have said this.
______________________________________________________________
5. Note one reason why an arch design was chosen for the bridge.
______________________________________________________________
6. Which arch bridge in New York influenced the winning design?
______________________________________________________________
7. What was built into the Bridge to allow for temperature changes?
______________________________________________________________
14. Why did John Bradfield insist on having pylons on the bridge?
______________________________________________________________
15. Note one reason why the pylons were made of granite.
______________________________________________________________
16. How many days did it take to join the arches in August 1930?
______________________________________________________________

Building the bridge

Use the information in the large hall on level 1 to answer the following
questions
1. What nickname did the people of Sydney have for the Bridge in the Great
Depression? Why?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. What job did Lawrence Ennis have during the years 1924-1932?
______________________________________________________________
3. Where in NSW was the granite quarried for the pylons?_______________
How far is this from Sydney? ____________________________________
Name two countries in Europe from where stonemasons came to help.
___________________________________________________________
Look at the photograph showing the river. Why was it important to have
the quarry near a river?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
4. Look at the display board headed RIVETING WORK. Why did the catcher
need a steel bucket?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
5. What problems did some iron workers and boilermakers later suffer from?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
6. Why did Vincent Kelly receive his gold watch?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

7. Note and describe six jobs mentioned on the display board BLOOD
SWEAT AND FEARS.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________