Ryde Bridge

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The Ryde Bridge, which is infact two bridges, is located in Sydney, Australia that link the suburb of Ryde in Sydney's North Shore to the suburb of Rhodes in Sydney's Inner West. Originally opened by Ryde Municipal Council with the aid of Concord Municipal Council (today known as the City of Canada Bay), it was and is still used very frequently to cross the Parramatta River. These bridges carry 6 lanes of Metroad 3.

Before the bridge was constructed, the Parramatta River was crossed in this area by a vehicular punt, just downstream of the Meadowbank Railway bridge. The southern ramp still exists near the southern end of the railway bridge, however the northern ramp has been covered over by Meadowbank ferry wharf.

The original bridge was opened in 1935, with 3 traffic lanes. The original bridge is a lift bridge which was a requirement for Parramatta River shipping, however the lifting mechanism was removed in the mid-20th Century, and it has not been opened since.

The bridge was paid for by the Ryde Council, and carried a toll for 13 years. After this, being paid for, the toll was removed, and ownership transferred to the Department of Main roads. An additional bridge was constructed adjacent to the east side of this bridge during the 1980's to carry southbound traffic, leaving the original bridge for northbound only.