This steel truss vertical lift bridge and specially-built causeway connect the Hobart suburbs of Bridgewater and Granton.

Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur commissioned the construction of the bridge and causeway to connect the Launceston – Hobart Trunk Road, linking both Tasmanian towns and providing easier access to farmlands in the interior of Tasmania.

Upon completion of the causeway, a punt operated across the deep, navigable section of the river, but could not cope with traffic demands.

[12] It consists of a long concrete bridge that leads off the end of the causeway, and a steel lifting section just before the northern bank of the river.

Barges were used to transport paper from the mill to the storage sheds at Pavilion Point at Hobart, and for this reason the bridge was required to open very frequently.

In response to vandalism of the house which contains the bridge operating controls, closed-circuit television cameras were installed along the lifting span sometime between 2003 and 2005.

On 30 October 2006 a fault was found in one of the steel cables holding up the two 170-tonne (190-short-ton) concrete counterweights above the road, forcing the temporary closure of the bridge.

Rail services ceased using the bridge when the South Line was cut back to terminate at the Brighton Transport Hub in June 2014.

The State Government spent $14 million to refurbish the bridge and provide it with a further 15 years of life, until a replacement can be built.

It has opened no more than six times successfully and has caused major traffic delays, including on a well-promoted occasion the lift span raised approximately 14 centimetres (5.5 in) and was stuck in that position for several minutes before being lowered again.

[20] Construction was expected to commence in 2019;[21] however, following independent assessment of the project by Infrastructure Australia in July 2019, the evaluation identified a range of issues, which may add to costs and require further work to address, and recommended that the Tasmanian Government revise its business case.

[22] The 1.6-kilometre-long (1 mi) concrete box girder bridge is expected to carry dual carriageways with a clearance of 16.2 metres (53 ft) above the Derwent River.