Sydney Harbor Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge celebrated 85th birthday

The Queen Mother said it was "one of the wonders of our time".

But of all the nicknames Sydney's iconic landmark received in the past 85 years, the Iron Lung is one that echoes its significance for those who built it.

The construction employed 1,400 builders who were paid as little as four pounds a week at the height of the Great Depression.

More than 200 families living in the far New South Wales south coast town of Moruya were able to put food on their tables because they worked out of the quarries which provided the granite for the bridge pylons.