Riverton Bridge is a two-lane road traffic bridge spanning the Canning River at Riverton, in Perth, Western Australia.

Riverton Bridge
Designations
Official nameRiverton Road Bridge
TypeMunicipal Inventory
Designated18 September 2018
Reference no.11962
MunicipalityCity of Canning

It was originally built in 1911 and known as the Watts Road Bridge, being renamed to Riverton Bridge in 1916. By the 1930s the bridge had fallen into disrepair. In 1954 it was replaced with the current structure, which is slightly upstream of the original. Part of the original bridge was kept as a swimming jetty, but this was demolished in 1980 for safety reasons.[1]

Until the 1970s the bridge formed part of the major east–west road system south of the Canning River and was part of what was then High Road between Fremantle and Cannington. In 1978, High Road was upgraded and realigned to become Leach Highway, and as part of that project the concrete four-lane Shelley Bridge was built appropriately 470 metres (510 yd) downstream. Since then, Riverton Bridge has been used for mainly local traffic.

In 1937 the suburb of Riverton was informally called Riverton Bridge to avoid confusion with the South Australian town of Riverton.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Lester Durbin (October 2004), "History of Riverton Bridge" (PDF), Wilson Residents & Ratepayers' Association Newsletter, Wilson Residents & Ratepayers' Association, p. 3, retrieved 19 November 2011
  2. ^ "History of metropolitan suburb names – R". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2007.

Further reading edit

  • Edmonds, Leigh (1997). The vital link: a history of Main Roads Western Australia 1926-1996. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1-875560-87-4.

External links edit

  Media related to Riverton Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

32°01′40″S 115°54′04″E / 32.027703°S 115.901129°E / -32.027703; 115.901129 (Riverton Bridge)