A group of musicians from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra scaled the city’s Harbour Bridge for an exclusive concert to celebrate the “Grand Old Dame’s” 80th birthday yesterday.

The bridge is one of Sydney’s most-photographed and best-known landmarks and is often the centrepiece of firework displays in the city

Also known as the “The Coathanger”, Sydney Bridge was officially opened to traffic on March 19, 1932, joining the harbour’s northern and southern shores for the first time.

It was an ambitious project that took eight years to complete, with construction of the 1,149-metre span claiming the lives of 16 men.

To celebrate the anniversary, the 11 brass section musicians from the city’s Symphony Orchestra – also turning 80 this year – climbed to the top of the 134-metre high arch to perform for a select group of guests.

“The musicians played Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, plus the theme music from the movie Chariots of Fire,” a Symphony spokeswoman said.

The small audience featured seven “Bridge heroes” with a special connection to the structure, said event organisers.

They included descendants of the bridge’s engineer J.J.C Bradfield, a man whose uncle placed the very first rivet, and Joan McDonald, whose birth certificate reads “Place of Birth: Ambulance on Sydney Harbour Bridge”. Ralph Bradfield Bonner, born on the bridge’s 1932 opening day and named after its chief engineer, also scaled the arch, along with Lloyd Poulter – the bridge’s most frequent climber – who celebrated his 46th trip to the top.

The bridge is one of Sydney’s most-photographed and best-known landmarks and is often the centrepiece of fireworks displays in the city.

“Today we celebrate this engineering masterwork we’re so privileged to share with the whole world,” said Edward Owens from BridgeClimb, which ran the event.

“We look forward to sharing many more birthdays with the Sydney Harbour Bridge.”