Riverton Road Bridge - Municipal Heritage Inventory - City of Canning Shelley, Western Australia, Australia
By jinta29 on 22-Jan-18. Waypoint GA11863

Please post a photo of yourself with the bridge in the background to claim this cache.

DESCRIPTION 

The Riverton Bridge, MRD No.926, spans the Canning River at Riverton, approximately 400 metres upstream from Shelley Bridge. The bridge is constructed of timber, and is 108 metres long, with a 7 metre wide roadway and 1.3 metre walkway.  
 
HISTORICAL INFORMATION 

The suburb of Riverton derives its name from its location on the banks of the Canning River. The area was subdivided in 1914, and Riverton was referred to locally as Riverton Bridge in 1937 to avoid confusion with the South Australian suburb of Riverton. This name was never formally approved and officially the suburb has always been Riverton. In 1908, market gardeners from Riverton, Fred Riley and Jack Metcalfe needed to access Perth markets to sell their produce. Prior to this time, they crossed the river close to the present bridge site with their wagon loaded onto a punt. Fred Riley donated both his time and money to construct a bridge. Completed in early 1911, it was built of locally felled timber. It became known as the Watts Road Bridge, although there was no road access on either side other than a sandy track.  In 1912, it was proposed to rename the bridge the Fred Riley Bridge in appreciation of his efforts. Fred rejected the proposal and in 1916 requested that it be named the Riverton Bridge as it has remained. The bridge site was a popular swimming place,  and  a section  of the  original  bridge, left in place alongside the present  bridge, was used for many years as a diving platform by the local children. By the 1930s the bridge was falling into disrepair and only used on a 'use at your own risk' basis, a situation that continued until 1954 when the bridge was replaced by the present structure sited slightly upstream.  The bridge is now used for local traffic only, but prior to the completion of the Shelley Bridge in 1978, it was notorious with motorists for the peak hour traffic congestion with which it was associated.