 Tenders were called for in 1836 for design and construction of a bridge at the village of Hadspen . Five years later the colony 's government passed " Reibey 's ford act " to facilitate construction of a bridge . The act specified that of the £ 1500 cost for the bridge , £ 500 was to be paid by the government , and the remainder by Thomas Haydock Reibey . To recover the costs Reibey was allowed to charge a toll , assisted by a toll house and by turnpikes at the bridge 's ends . On construction the toll was mandated as 1d per person , 1s per wagon or carriage , 4d per unladen beast and 1 / 2d per calf , sheep , pig or lamb . The elder Reibey died before the bridge was completed and his son and executor Thomas Reibey acquired his father 's rights , collecting the tolls after the bridge was completed . The toll was to run for the lesser of 30 years , or whatever time it took to pay for the original bridge construction costs plus an annual 15 % interest . The wooden bridge was completed by November 1843 , and within a little over a year the tolls had raised 453 pounds . It was known as " Reibey 's Bridge " and was narrow — fitting only a single wagon — with a single chain each side for safety , a fact that caused the loss of at least one valuable horse . 
