PLANS COMPLETE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 2, 4 January 1932, Page 9

PLANS COMPLETE

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

OPENING CEREMONY

. Plans-for'the pageant-at the opening, of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 19th March have -practically been completed. The official opening will take.place at 10 a.m. at the southern approach opposite Observatory Park. The Governor (Sir Philip Game) will preside.. ■ The Premier (Mr. Lang) will declare the bridge open, .and .will be supported by Mr. Davidson (Minister for Public Works), the Lord Mayor of Sydney, the Mayor of North Sydney, Dr. J. J. C. Bradfield (Chief Engineer), Mr. Rowlaud D. Kitson (vice-chairman, of Dorman, Long, and Co., builders of. the bridge), Mr. Lawrence'Enuis' (chief engineer for Dorman, Long, and Co.), and others. The speeches will be amplified and broadcast. ■ ■ After the official, opening on the south side (reports the "Sydney Morning Herald"), the.party will.cross for a function afc the northern end. During these proceedings an aerial display .will be carried out by. the E.A.A'.F., and speed launch manoeuvres will bo. executed by the combined yacht clubs. HISTORICAL PAGEANT. The pageant, hea:dedby: school children, will illustrate, the history'of New South Wales and Australia- from the landing of Captain. Cook in 1770. These illustrations will be carried out by moans of floats and marching units, and will have fidelity to facts, in addition to being of great spectacular beauty. There will be band musiCj both in ■ the march and at poiilts along .tttc-route".. The procession: is : being, designed to-- cbiistituto one of .-tho most remarkable ex- j uniples of pageantry yet seen in the Southern Hemisphere. With a length of one mil© and a quarter, it will cover a route of -Jive miles from assembly to dispersal. It is estimated that ten thousand spectators -will lino > the' procession on both sides :of •' th'eV. bridge alone. ■' ' - - ; " . ■ ■ The water manoeuvres concurrently with the passing of the pageant will be led by mail steamers of the P. and 0. and Orient S.S. Companies ~ and Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line,, with other oeeau-going vessels, ferry and motor-boats, auxiliary ' yachts, and minor craft. Subsequent celebrations will be carried out on an' attractive- scale, and according1 to an official programme. PLOEAL TLOATS. It is also reported that the gardens of Sydney are to contribute a, wealth of floral beauty for the pageantry of the Harbour Bridge- celebrations. The Floral Committee, adopting a suggestion made by the curator of the Sydney Botanic Gardens,- has originated- -a scheme muler which those willing, ta become associated with the success, of-the display by the growing of flowers will know exactly what to plant in keeping with the date of the pageant and in conformity with the colour schemes of the different floats. The ■■ suburban areas have been divided into zones. The scheme has already been introduced, with promise of great success, to the North Shore zone. The Celebrations Committee has received many communications, denoting that the popular impression is that a "float" is a, water vehicle. A float is a, display carried on the chassis of a motor-vehiclo. The floats of the bridge pageant will be of a .standard size, 25 feet long and 15 feet wide, with a maximum height of 14ft 6in.