The bridge had been in a poor state of repair following years of neglect by the local council and it was demolished to facilitate developments for De Montfort University.

The Great Central Railway, which opened on 15 March 1899, was the last main line to be built linking the north of England with London, and crossed Leicester on a Staffordshire blue brick viaduct, over a mile and a half long and comprising 97 brick arches and 16 fine girder bridges of differing designs and dimensions, spanning various thoroughfares, the River Soar and its associated canal.

[5] The bridge was built by Henry Lovatt of Wolverhampton and was one of the last surviving girder structures from the Great Central's London Extension.

A surviving length of viaduct from Duns Lane to Glen Parva, including the Bowstring Bridge, was purchased by Leicester City Council in the 1970s for a token payment.

The Council subsequently received a Manpower Services Commission grant to engage craftsmen to supervise young people painting the bridge in green and cream colours.

[9] In 2005, Leicester City Council proposed to demolish the bridge to allow De Montfort University to expand its John Sandford sports hall and build a swimming pool in a £6 million development.

According to the report, the then 108-year-old bridge was "approaching the end of a normal life span of 120 years" and could have lasted "long into the future if only a pro-active maintenance strategy had been in place.

[21] In a meeting adjourned in exclusion of the public on 3 August 2009, Leicester City Council made the decision to knock down the bowstring bridge and to sell the remaining length of viaduct on Duns Lane as well as the adjacent land to De Montfort University for an initial £1 fee.

[23] Leicester Civic Society applied to English Heritage to have the structure listed, but this was rejected on the basis that the bridge was "not old enough or sufficiently innovative to justify preservation".

On 25 September 2010 Leicester Civic Society unveiled a memorial plaque to the former bridge on the facade of a nearby building (the Bowstring Bar).