Sydney Harbour Bridge, whether you are Sydney or not, as long as you mention Australia, mention Sydney, the first thing you think of must be this magnificent steel bridge! It is not only an important bridge connecting the north and south sides of the port, but also an iconic building in Sydney.
Few know, however, that beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge lies a horrendous history that locals do not want to ponder over.
Let us forget today's Harbour Bridge, and Sydney Port's beauty, back to 1815.
It was 37 years since Sydney became a British colony in 1815.
At that time, the British colonists arrived with slaves and criminals. Farms, smelters and food workshops are under construction, and everything is in vain.
It was 37 years since Sydney became a British colony in 1815. At that time, the British colonists arrived with slaves and criminals. Farms, smelters and food workshops are under construction, and everything is in vain. Since the southern shore of Sydney Port was then the main place for prisoners to be exiled, some colonial officials chose to build sites on the cleaner and safer northern shore.
Since the southern shore of Sydney Port was then the main place for prisoners to be exiled, some colonial officials chose to build sites on the cleaner and safer northern shore.
But there is no bridge between the north and south of Sydney, either by boat or by way of distance. Each voyage was time-consuming and laborious, giving the then governor, Lachlan Macquarie, a headache.
It was then that Francis, an architect who had just been exiled to Sydney. Greenwell stood up and suggested to the governor that we could build a bridge between the two sides. Isn't it convenient for you to get to know each other?
Although the plan sounds tempting, Francis' proposal was not immediately adopted because of the cost of repairing the bridge. But since then, the idea of building bridges between the north and the south has been on the agenda of colonial government, more and more intense!
In 1851, Australia set off a gold rush! Sydney, as a must-pass place for the gold rush, is becoming more and more popular. But the rush into the gold rush not only brought prosperity to the economy, but also exposed a terrible death zone in Sydney. Many people are said to die strangely each year in the waters of Sydney Harbor. Sometimes, in spite of the calm, the good end of the boat, from the water will be strangely missing.
Sydney's reputation grew worse, and the people's protest grew, until 1923, when the plan to build the Sydney Bridge was finally finalized.
Capital-rich Sydney had ambitious plans to build one of the world's most powerful bridges
It is reported that in order to complete the work as soon as possible, only four months after preparation. In July 1923, the construction of the Harbour Bridge began.
In order to build the world's highest and largest steel arch bridge as soon as possible, designers, workers get up early and dark, no matter day or night overtime!
However, it was not easy to build such a bridge under the back of Australia's laggard industry. The ambition of designers and officials was not enough.
In 1926, three years had passed since the bridge began. 23 years of non-stop, only a huge tower pedestal. Although progress was slow, the giant-like pier was still Sydney's most spectacular building at the time.
Workers at the Sydney Harbour Bridge construction site are still working in sweat every day. They may not know that, not far away, a group of their own workers are going through these terrible things.
On this day, three curious workers, after leaving work, crept to the bottom of the magnificent Sydney Bridge Tower, and perhaps they just wanted to know what the structure was inside the huge Bridge Tower. Perhaps they just wanted to hide in this empty place for a cigarette and a drink, after all, the exiled prisoners who had lived as slaves as they were, had no freedom to entertain.
Some of the records vaguely mentioned that more than three people, perhaps a dozen, had entered together at that time. Maybe some of them got some good cigarettes and drinks by some means, so people who wanted to have some fun were hiding out for fun. No matter how many people went in, it was certain until the next morning. I've never seen anyone out!
The next morning, the pedestal was capped!
The captive worker did not notice that a bunch of drunken men fell asleep in the corner of the bridge pier.
The dozens of workers who might still be dreaming, without a chance to resist, were crushed to death under a heavy stone.
It was not until a few days later that the foremen discovered that there were a few less workers, inquired everywhere, until they had sneaked into the bridge tower to steal wine and drink. At that time, the foreman had an unintended premonition, when everyone ran to the bridge tower, found that the bridge tower surrounded by the "secret space" had long been sealed dead.
But after all, so many lives in it!
The foreman reported the incident to the responsible colonial officer and applied to pry open the stones and find the body. However, officials are obviously more concerned about affecting the duration of the project.
It's not all the same where a dozen bodies are buried. After all, it's more important to build the world's best bridge as soon as possible.
Instead of ordering the men who died in the bridge tower to be dug up, the officer ordered the foreman not to mention it again.
The dozen or so crushed labourers were sealed forever at the bottom of the bridge tower of the Harbour Bridge.
But the corpses could be sealed, and the terrible rumors of the accident ran from worker to worker. Many of the workers who built the bridge were enslaved and prisoners of the same fate. They knew better than the bridge that their lives were like falling gravel in the sea.
Occasionally, when they cross the bridge tower, workers sprinkle a little wine to sacrifice the souls of a dozen dead people.
Sprinkle a little wine and sacrifice the souls of a dozen. However, this is only the beginning of a tragedy, over the next six years, a series of strange accidents occurred at the Sydney Harbour Bridge construction site, it is inexplicable.
According to some historical records, one day in April 1926, crane operator Henry Waters died strangely! That day, everyone was busy with the, Henry Waters, handling the crane as usual.
Henry, 50, was the most skilled crane operator at the time. In the early morning of April 7, he sat in and started his day's work after a routine inspection of the machine.
But after he had hung a quick stone, no one had thought of it, and the accident had happened. A strange wind blew past, hanging up to nearly 1000 jin of stone rope, unexpectedly began to shake up! Henry who operates cranes all year round knows, of course, this is very dangerous!
Once the weight starts shaking, so long means, driven by inertia, it is likely that the whole crane will be overturned. Perhaps Henry was aware of the danger and was ready to abandon the car and run away. But weirdly is, in the distance Henry's workmate only sees, the Henry, that runs down from the crane unexpectedly runs straight to the stone below!
Everybody tell him to run, run away! However, Henry, as if he could not hear, lagged under the stone. By this time, the rope was overburdened. Workers watched as Henry was crushed to the ground by nearly a thousand jin of stone.
A living person, so crushed flesh and blood blurred. See this bloody scene, the workers are all scared! We don't understand why Henry knew the danger, but still stood under the boulder, and it looked as if he had been sucked under the stone by some mysterious force at that moment!
A long time later, someone suddenly remembered, Henry is the original hanging stone to seal off the bridge tower!
A lot of workers don't believe it's just a coincidence. What happened later made many people believe in the legend of the 16 dead souls under the bridge tower.
In September of the same year, a worker named Robert Craig was crushed to death by a pile of rubble in the same place! Right where Henry was at the time.
, Thomas McKeown's death in March 1927 was even more bizarre. When he was painting on the bridge, he accidentally stepped on the air and saw it fall into the water. At this time he looked at the crane hanging things, just within reach of the tentacles, so a struggle, ran into the crane rope. He hastened with his hands and feet and tied the rope tightly.
But when everyone felt that Thomas was alive, so that he could survive, the accident happened again! Thomas even seemed to be pulled up by something, or fell down! The most frightening thing was that he had been tied too tightly to the rope. All of a sudden, he broke one hand and one foot.
Since then, the entire construction site of the Sydney Bridge has been shrouded in a haze of death. It was later counted that two or three people died each year after Henry died until the bridge was completed in 1932.
Most of the causes of death are related to cranes, boulders.
The worst happened a year before completion, when a worker, John Alexander, was crushed by a falling steel plate as he was directing the crane to move the steel plate. Just as everyone panicked and tried to save him, he just laughed creepy. There was no sign of him in his smile, only half of it was left.
His weirdly laugh seemed to reveal a sense of pleasure in revenge.
When the bridge was completed, the officials hired a master ghost hunter from England. The experts did not say directly whether there were ghosts behind these strange deaths. They just said that on the day of the opening ceremony of Sydney Harbour Bridge, we had to find a lot of people. The more people we had to do, the better!
On the day of the ceremony, all Sydney citizens received an invitation from government to attend the opening ceremony. On the scene of the ceremony, the harbour bridge was almost flooded by crowds. Sydney city has never been a grand event!
But only some people knew in their hearts why these bloody people had been gathered here.
In 1998, to protect Sydney's popularity and showcase its grandeur to the world, a project to climb Sydney Port was opened. And open 24 hours a day.
But workers who lost their lives in the construction of the seaport bridge have rarely been mentioned, especially about the souls sealed in the tower, which officials want to erase.
Because this story doesn't help attract hundreds of bridge climbers every day.
But is the story true or false? Perhaps government also does not have the courage to check, after all, spend a great deal of money to pry the bridge tower of the Harbour Bridge, I really do not know what the truth will be found!
In that age of technological backwardness, there must be a price to pay for building such a bridge, including those lives that were not respected at the time. Things have been nearly 90 years, experienced the construction of the seaport bridge has been dust to dust, earth to the earth, it is better to let legends are legends forever.