Adelaide Bridge - a State Heritage place - was built in 1931. It was the third bridge on this site, replacing two earlier ones, and was the fifth bridge that linked the City and North Adelaide across the Torrens. The first bridge on this site was erected in 1839 just after the founding of the colony. It lasted 38 years before its replacement was built in 1877 (the bridge in the photograph). However, the 1877 bridge was considered out of date by 1920, as it was often congested, especially when trams were crossing the bridge. The River Torrens (Karrawirra Parri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia.

It flows 85 kilometres (53 mi) from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties into Gulf St Vincent between Henley Beach South and West Beach.