The bridge also served to re-connect Old Gentilly Road, which had been severed by the construction of the Industrial Canal.

Old Gentilly Road was part of the Old Spanish Trail and provided the only vehicular route east out of New Orleans at the time.

The Almonaster Bridge provides two vehicular lanes and a single railroad track crossing down the center of the span.

Since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the roadways leading up to it, the bridge now normally stays in the up position, being lowered as needed for rail traffic.

The Port of New Orleans, the Regional Planning Commission, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development have an ongoing feasibility study underway for replacing the bridge with a modern structure.