The lower deck can be raised to permit riverboats to pass without interrupting car traffic on top.

The ASB has a 428-foot (130 m) main span, making it the ninth-longest vertical-lift drawbridge in the United States.

December 28, 1911: Bridge opened to traffic, two lanes of automobile on upper level, one track of railroad on lower.

January 1913: Electric interurban cars begin use of streetcar rails on upper deck.

1977: The state highway department banned traffic weighing six tons or more from using the outer lanes of the upper deck due to concerns that the girders holding them up could fail.

1987: Heart of America Bridge opened to the east, upper auto deck closed to all traffic.

1988–1989: Upper deck surface removed, and bridge given to Burlington Northern railroad.