1/104Construction of the $200m South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) building on North Terrace - nicknamed the Cheesegrater. The building opened in November last year.
How South Australia was built
How South Australia was built
2/104The nearly complete SAHMRI building. Picture: Mike Burton
3/104Steel and scaffolding goes up for the Royal Adelaide Hospital East Wing construction site in 1959.
4/104Work in 1965 of at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. This construction was probably part of an eight-million-pound project that included the North Wing and what was later named the Nurses’ Residential Wing.
5/104Work on the exterior of new East Wing building at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1966.
6/104Construction at the Bicentennial Conservatory, a tropical hothouse at Adelaide’s Botanic Garden. Built for Australia’s bicentannial, this photo was taken in July, 1988. The conservatory opened the following year.
7/104A photo taken in 1876 of the newly-built Palm House at the Botanic Garden. The tropical glasshouse was imported from Germany in 1875 and restored in 1995.
8/104The National Wine Centre under construction on February 21, 2001, beside the Botantic Garden. Detailed plans of the at-one-time-$37 million centre were first revealed in 1999, to much opposition. The centre was eventually built for $25 million and opened in 2001. It went broke and was virtually shut down but is now run by the University of Adelaide.
9/104The Morphettville Racecourse grandstand under construction in October 1980. Picture: Campbell Brodie
10/104A dogman stands on a beam during the construction of the north-west corner of the Port Augusta powerhouse in 1954. Check the next photo to see just how high he is.
11/104If you don’t know, a dogman would direct crane operators while riding on an object the crane was lifting.
12/104The first citzens move into a brand-new Elizabeth. Here people go shopping while workers put the finishing touches to gardens and paths for the new shopping centre. This photo was taken November 18, 1955, by Bob Horwood.
13/104Removal vans parked outside many houses as tenants move in to Elizabeth. A boy wheels his bicycle into his new home on November 18, 1955.
14/1041959 - when Holden’s Elizabeth plant was under construction. This is the view looking south along the Philip Highway. Pic: City of Playford History Service
15/104More construction at the Wayville showgrounds, this time in 1925.
16/104Construction workers at the Olympic Dam mining project look down into an ore crusher in the mine in 1998.
17/104Construction of the eastern end of Parliament House in 1936
18/104The new Parliament House was built over a period of 65 years, from 1874 to 1939. Picture courtesy History Trust of SA, glass negatives collection
19/104South Australia’s new Parliament House nears completion in 1938. We’d love to see other photos of Parliament House being built, especially ones pre-1936, if you’ve got them.
20/104The ‘Optus’ building on South Terrace is built in 1989.
21/104An aerial picture taken on June 7, 1965, shows the construction of the Adelaide Hills freeway. A mass of scaffolding supports the early stages of the Crafers overpass bridge in the centre. The existing Mt Barker road is seen in background.
22/104Construction of the South Eastern Freeway in 1971. Location unknown.
23/104This is the Bridgewater interchange of the South-Eastern Freeway. under construction in 1972.
24/104Another overpass on the South-Eastern Freeway, photographed November 1977. The files did not state which overpass this was, but we suspect it is the Hahndorf exit. Do you recognise it?
25/104Workers make a last-minute wiring inspection before the first blast is fired on what was later called the Heysen Tunnels on the new South-Eastern Freeway - March 1996. Picture: Neon Martin
26/104Workers lever away loose rocks after the first blasts to begin work on the Heysen Tunnels.
27/104Traffic is banked up on the old freeway as an explosion takes place on a cliff above during blasting work on the new South-Eastern Freeway in 1999.
28/104The tunnels for the Adelaide-Crafers South-Eastern Freeway near completion in 1998.
29/104Breakthrough - tunnel construction worker Waaka Rangi looks through the hole made as two tunnels bored under Mt Barker Rd meet in the middle.
30/104A steam train pulls away from a partly constructed Adelaide Railway Station building in 1927.
31/104The rebuilding of Adelaide Railway Station, which was championed by Railway Commissioner William Webb, Construction began in 1926 and fniished in 1928. Picture: History Trust of SA
32/104University of Adelaide’s Elder Hall under construction in 1899. Picture: ‘Heritage of the City of Adelaide’, City of Adelaide
33/104Railway workers on Port Augusta-Kalgoorlie railway lay sleepers in 1912. The Trans-Australian railway, which crosses the Nullarbor Plain, was completed in 1917 and includes the longest dead-straight stretch of railway in the world - 478km.
34/104Railway workers and camel teams on the Port Augusta-Kalgoorlie railway in 1912.
35/104The Adelaide Festival Theatre under construction in 1972. The theatre itself was built for $10 million, and was finished in 1973. Picture: State Records of South Australia
36/104Inside the Festival Theatre as it was built in the early 1970s.
37/104Construction continues on the Adelaide Festival Centre plaza. The Centre was built in three parts from 1970 to 1980. Picture: Adelaide Festival Centre Trust
38/104Construction continues on the Adelaide Festival Centre plaza. Picture: Adelaide Festival Centre Trust
39/104The Adelaide Festival Centre and Theatre construction in the 1970s. Picture: Adelaide Festival Centre Trust
40/104Heavy machinery and tractors are used during upgrades to the Eyre Highway. While the highway was originally opened in 1941, this photo was taken 45km west of Penong in 1974.
41/104The controversial $1.8 billion desalination plant at the old oil refinery site at Port Stanvac under construction in Feburary, 2010.
42/104Construction on Greenhill Rd’s dual carriageway in May, 1966. This is the corner of Anzac Highway. Trees originally part of the Parklands are still visible in the median strip.
43/104Jack Frisby watches the final stage of construction on the Hindmarsh Island Bridge at Goolwa in 2000. The highly controversial bridge - which sparked a Royal Commission and spawned the phrase ‘secret women’s business’ - opened in 2001 at a cost of $6.5 million.
44/104Cyclist Mike Turtur watches construction take place on the velodrome in Adelaide in 1993.
45/104The foundation of Telecom House, in Pirie St. This aerial view of what was to be Telecom’s new state head office in SA was taken on August 13, 1984. Now known as Telstra House.
46/104Flashing forward to September 2000, and a base for one of the new permant lighting towers for Adelaide Oval is positioned by crane. In 1997, retractable towers were installed but one collapsed - see the next photo.
47/104The collapsed retractable light tower at Adelaide Oval. One of the four towers fell back in March, 1998, injuring two workers. Picture: Mike Burton
48/104Work on the pit to house one of the four doomed retractable Adelaide Oval light towers is under construction, August, 1995.
49/104The base of one of the new lighting towers - to replace the retractable towers - is raised up and positioned by a crane in 2000.
50/104Adelaide Oval undergoes a $535 million redevelopment, to create a 50,083-seat stadium. There is also standing room for another 3500 people. Here, construction work takes place on the old members stand.
52/104November 2013 - work continues on the $40m Adelaide Oval Footbridge. Picture: Simon Cross
53/104An aerial view of Elizabeth showing the main Holden factory under construction. The date of this picture, taken by D. Darian Smith, is unknown. Construction began in 1958. The body hardware plant opened in 1960, while the vehicle assembly plant opened in 1962. The factory will close in 2017.
54/104Waymouth Street, 1971 - Construction of the PMG building, almost obscuring the new office block on the corner of Bentham St. At left is the McPherson buildings.
55/104Rundle Mall - May, 1983, This is underneath the first-floor walkway pedestrian bridge that once ran across the mall to the Renaissance Centre.
56/104Rundle Mall is paved, turning it from a busy road into a pedestrian mall. Brick paving is laid in February, 1976.
57/104The carpark on the corner of Rundle and Pulteney streets, November 1976.
58/104The Myer Emporium site on Rundle Mall is demolished to make way for the new Myer Centre - May 1989.
59/104Demolition workers at dusk look over the former Myer site in 1989. Picture: Campbell Brodie
60/104May 24, 1990: construction of the new Myer Centre building in Rundle Mall. Picture: Matt Turner
61/104July 12, 1990, construction of the new Myer Centre building in Rundle Mall continues. The building took 33 months to complete - 11 months longer than expected, because of industrial action and ended up costing $1 billion to build.
62/104Construction on the interior of the new Myer Centre in October 1990. The centre opened in June, 1991, complete with a world-first amusement park in the top two floors.
63/104The Myer Centre’s nearly finished Dazzleland in March, 1991. Here, you can see escalators and Dazzeland rollercoaster track. Dazzleland. The finished centre was visited by nearly a third of Adelaide’s population on its June 3 opening day. Dazzleland closed down in early 1998.
64/104Neil Murphy of the South Australian Freight Council, at the $800m South Road Superway construction in 2013.
65/104Back to 1962, and this is the interior of Her Majesty’s Theatre being built. This photo is looking across the dress circle.
66/104The Adelaide Entertainment Centre at Hindmarsh begins to take form, with the tiered seating almost in place. This is August 22, 1990, with carpenter Mark Pettman in the foreground. The $44m centre was opened in 1991.
67/104A Collins class submarine is built at the Australian Submarine Corporation shipyards in Adelaide in 1998.
68/104To 1981, and construction begins on Adelaide’s Hilton Hotel building on Victoria Square.
69/104Earthmoving equipment works during the construction of South Rd, October 1960.
70/104Work in progress for the roll-on, roll-off ramp at Prince’s Wharf, Port Adelaide in February 1960. The aim was to have better freight shipments between Port Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln.
71/104Workers pour concrete at the Adelaide Central Plaza building site - the new David Jones, which was replacing the John Martin’s department store in Rundle Mall. In the background is a 10-storey construction crane - the first such crane to appear on the Adelaide skyline for 10 years.
72/104Nice view ... how it looked from the top of a construction crane working on the new David Jones building.
73/104An aerial view of the Holdfast Shores housing development during construction in 1999.
74/104The T&G Building under construction, on the corner of King William and Grenfell streets in the city, in the late 1920s. This building was one of Adelaide’s first high-rises. The off-white/light yellow building is now Quest Apartments.
75/104The Adelaide Greyhound Raceway at Angle Park, 1975.
76/104The front of the new Adelaide Airport terminal under construction in 2004. The $260m T1 terminal was opened in 2005.
77/104Football Park at West Lakes - Don Roach and Ray Kutcher walking on what was to become Football Park in 1973.
78/104Construction well under way for Footy Park in January 1974.
79/104Footy Park in February 1974. Ground was broken for Football Park in 1971, and hte first match was played there in May, 1974.
80/104Back to 1938, and this shows preparation for the construction of the Birkenhead bridge across the Port River - near the Port Adelaide Yachting Club.
81/104To 1908, and horses pull a plough to break up what was then a sealed - or “metalled” road for the Adelaide Municipal Electric Tramways. Picture: J.Marshall/ Chronicle
82/104Work continues on the Adelaide Municipal Electric Tramways project. Here the rails are welded by the ‘thermit process. in 1908.
83/104A man holds bitumen joint equipment used in the construction of the Port Adelaide sewers in 1937.
84/104David Jones’ building in Rundle Mall is built in 1999.
85/104Montefiore Rd under construction in 1966. You can also see the rail yards at the bottom and Adelaide Oval at the top right.
86/104The Union Hall building under construction at the University of Adelaide in 1957.
87/104And a year later in 1958, inside the Union Hall building as it takes shape.
88/104Cranes around the site of the new forthcoming Royal Adelaide Hospital in 2013. Beside it is the SAHMRI.
89/104In February this year, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital building begins to take shape. Picture: Roger Wyman
90/104Photos taken in September of the new RAH building. It’s supposed to be open by 2016. Picture: Tom Huntley
91/104The Reserve Bank building on Victoria Square, under construction in January 1966. The building, which is still standing, is seen beside the old Unitarian Church on Wakefield St., which was torn down in 1971 and replaced with Wakefield House. This photo still carries the original caption, which can be seen at the bottom, highlighting the “old and the new” in Adelaide at the time.
92/104How artist impressions used to look ... the 1981 model of Magic Mountain at Glenelg.
93/104Construction begins on an icon of SA - work starts on Magic Mountain at Glenelg in 1982.
94/104Builders work on Magic Mountain in 1982. It was opened in December of the same year and closed in July 2004.
95/104And down she comes ... the demolition of Magic Mountain begins in late 2004.
96/104Most of Magic Mountain is gone ...
97/104Still at Glenelg, but now in November, 1968, and the jetty is under construction. Notice a large amount of parking. Probably free.
98/104Flashforward to May, 1969 and a crowd gathers at the opening of the Glenelg jetty.
99/104Workers take a break during construction of the Happy Valley Reservoir in 1896.
100/104The building of the Whispering Wall - the Barossa reservoir wall under construction in February, 1902.
101/104How South Australia was built
102/104How South Australia was built
103/104How South Australia was built
104/104How South Australia was built