A decision to replace the original bridge was made in 1939 just prior to the outbreak of World War II. Design work began in 1942 and construction by Hornibrook McKenzie Clarke Pty Ltd commenced in 1947. The bridge was officially opened by the Hon. J.J. Cahill, MLA, Premier and Colonial Treasurer of NSW on 30 July 1955. The Pratt truss bridge was built to carry four lanes of traffic, however a fifth lane was later added to the southwest side of the bridge. This extra lane runs outside of the main bridge supports, forcing traffic to remain in the lane for the length of the bridge. The default configuration was three westbound and two eastbound lanes, switching to two westbound and three eastbound lanes during the morning peak. Designed by Laurie Challis from the NSW Department of Main Roads, the Iron Cove Bridge is an impressive steel truss bridge. It consists of four plate girder approach spans and seven steel Pratt truss spans for a total length of. Four lanes of traffic are located within the truss spans and the overall width of the roadway is between kerbs. The roadway consists of a reinforced concrete deck slab with an inset for tram tracks in the centre portion. The bridge has aesthetically distinctive piers and abutments which reflect the Inter-War Art Deco style. Furthermore, it was the last steel truss bridge to be constructed in New South Wales in which rivets were used for field connections prior to the introduction of high strength bolts.
Bridge duplication
In April 2009, the NSW Government approved plans to construct a second bridge over Iron Cove as part of the Inner West Busway along Victoria Road. The new bridge was constructed on the western side of the existing bridge and holds three westbound traffic lanes with one lane designated as a morning peak bus lane. The existing bridge now carries three city bound traffic lanes and a 24-hour bus lane. The existing outrigger lane has been closed and is now only used for maintenance reasons. There is also a grade-separated shared pedestrian footpath and cycleway on the western side of the new bridge which connects to both The Bay Run and Victoria Road. Work on the duplicate bridge commenced in July 2009 and was opened to traffic late on 28 January 2011. During the proposal phase there were strong protests against the duplicate bridge being built from local residents as well as both local area councils of the City of Canada Bay and Leichhardt. Local residents within both Drummoyne and Rozelle formed the Victoria Road Community and organised public demonstrations, the last of which on 29 March 2009 attracted over 3000 protest marchers. Opposition to the new bridge was based on independent evaluations concluding that there would be only slight improvements to traffic congestion city bound on Victoria Road during peak hour while local congestion would worsen. Additionally, parkland on both sides of the new bridge would be reduced and independent environmental studies showed the local environment detrimentally impacted by the new bridge construction.
First bridge
The original bridge was constructed of wrought iron lattice girders and opened in 1882 after four years of construction. The area was sparsely populated in the 1880s and the opening of the new bridge not only helped accessibility but also provided a new western route to Sydney via Balmain. The old spans were re-used by means of purchase by Gordon Duff. Because of their good resistance to corrosion, all nine of the 1882 bridge's spans are in current use in three bridges on country roads in the area. All that remains in place of the original bridge are the sandstone abutments situated on both sides of the cove approximately south of the current bridge. The abutment on the Drummoyne side is listed on the local government heritage list.
