 Consequently , in 1846 an Act of Parliament authorised the building of a new toll bridge on the site of an ancient ford exactly one mile ( 1 @.@ 6 km ) downstream of Battersea Bridge . The approach road on the southern side was to run along the side of the new park , while that on the northern side was to run from Sloane Square , through the former Chelsea Waterworks site , to the new bridge . Although previous toll bridges in the area had been built and operated by private companies , the new bridge was to be built and operated by the government , under the control of the Metropolitan Improvement Commission , despite protests in Parliament from Radicals objecting to the Government profiting from a toll @-@ paying bridge . It was intended that the bridge would be made toll @-@ free once the costs of building it had been recouped . 
