A huge suspension bridge connecting the inner west of Sydney to the CBD. The main suspension segment crosses the entrance to Blackwattle Bay, going almost directly overheard the old, swinging bridge from the turn of the 20th century, which was preserved. The old bridge was low and quite narrow, and carried a phenomenal ammount of traffic into the narrow, winding streets of the Pyrmont peninsula. From there, traffic wound its way onto an overpass over Darling Harbour to reach the city centre. It was a painful trip, to say the least.
The new bridge joins onto a huge overpass on the southern end that wraps around the entire peninsula and joins onto the Darling Harbour bridge. The Pyrmont overpass was built over a decaying industrial area and a railway cutting. Beneath it now is a complex series of entrances and exits to and from the bridge, the Sydney Fish Markets, and the suburbs of Ultimo and Glebe, all elaborately gardened for the Sydney Olympics. Traffic now goes straight over the whole area at an average speed of 70 km/h, which cuts travel time by ten minutes in the middle of the day and god knows how long at peak hour.
The main suspension bridge is seven lanes with a broad pedestrian and bike path on the citybound side. The body of the roadway is astonishingly thin, and the whole bridge is quite graceful. The concrete towers are unornamented but are light and curved enough to avoid looking clunky. The huge cables spread in symmetrical arcs on either side out to about 45 degrees. This has given the bridge, seen from side on from Glebe, the nickname of the Madonna's Bra Bridge, but enough said on that. It's a very elegant piece of engineering.
On the nothern end is a statue of an Anzac in field uniform and hat with rifle. It's an admirable commemeration, but many feel the extremely conservative sculpture is not in keeping with the bold modernist sweep of the bridge itself.