[4] Before the bridge was built, access to Ford island was restricted to U.S. military personnel, their dependents, and invited guests.

The Waa Hele Honoa, translated as "Canoe go to land", was purchased in 1959 for $274,000 and pressed into service by the Navy on 3 March 1961.

[5] The completion of the bridge also enabled the Navy to further develop the island to include the $331,000,000 NOAA's Senator Daniel Inouye Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

[10][11] In addition, visitor access to the island with the bridge enabled the construction of the $50,000,000 16-acre (6.5 ha) Pacific Aviation Museum.

[16] The Navy also expressed concerns about the infrastructure of Pearl Harbor and Ford Island's historical significance being affected by the project.

[18] In the event that the transition spans are unable to bear the stress of movement of the pontoon, specifically in the case of seismic activity, the bridge has a breakaway feature that can be easily repaired.

[18] The floating portion is then retracted under the O'ahu side of the fixed bridge at a rate of 14 inches per second to create a 650 ft navigation channel.

[13] Retraction of the movable span is accomplished by two hydraulic winches located on the control pier on the southeast side of the bridge.

[18] As the span nears fully open, the winch speeds are slowed to allow the pontoon to stop without snapping a cable.

[2] Although access to the bridge is limited to those who hold a US military ID card, several events are hosted annually that are open to the public.

[24] More than 6,000 boots line the route to remember each fallen soldier since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

[25] National Park Service officials criticized the construction of the Admiral Clarey bridge fearing that by connecting road traffic to the mainland, the increased flow of island visitors would raise the level of theft of historical artifacts from the USS Arizona and other memorials on or around Ford Island.

[26] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has a facility on Ford Island, criticized the US Navy's hurricane and tsunami disaster plans which calls for closing the bridge to traffic and opening the channel to allow all ships to vacate the harbor.

[27] The NOAA's concerns were that with the bridge outage, the tsunami warning center would not be able to operate effectively at a time when its need was greatest.

[27] The Navy's plan calls for the use of the tour boats to act as ferries whenever the bridge would be unavailable for long periods of time and offered them as a solution to the NOAA's concerns.

[27] However, an organization called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) believed that the boats would be unable to provide for a speedy evacuation in a tsunami.

[29] Admiral Clarey was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor while he was the executive officer of the submarine USS Dolphin (SS-169).

[30] The Navy Facilities Engineering Command required that the bridge be low-profile to prevent any visual degradation to the USS Arizona memorial and to maintain Ford Island's historical and cultural value.