Commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, which owns and operates it, the vertical lift bridge opened in 2002.

[4] Once one of the most heavily used waterways in the Port of New York and New Jersey, it remains partially navigable for commercial marine traffic.

While requests have significantly diminished since the mid-late 20th century, the bridge at MP 11.7 and those downstream from it are required by federal regulations to open.

[6][7] The valley of the Passaic River in the vicinity of the bridge was first settled by Europeans in the late 17th century.

A bridge crossing the Passaic was built some time earlier at Acquackanonk about 4 miles to the north.