Sydney Harbour Bridge

'The Coathanger', as the bridge is affectionately known, opened on 19 March 1932.

As well as providing a vital link between northern and southern Sydney across the harbour, it looms large in the consciousness of Australians. Taking eight years to construct, it was also nicknamed 'the Iron Lung' because of the 1,400 jobs it provided during The Great Depression.

This curated collection includes footage of the bridge being built and the controversial opening where Francis de Groot cut the ribbon instead of Premier Jack Lang. You can listen to songs about the bridge and hear the Queen Mother sing its praises. Paul Hogan uses it as a fabulous prop in his cheeky tourism ad, an eight-year-old boy stands on top of it without safety gear and there's a post-apocalyptic imagining of Sydney from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).

You can stream Constructing Australia: The Bridge (2006, 55 minutes) on NFSA Player.

WARNING: this collection may contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.