[3] Construction of a single-track railroad bridge at the same location was started in 1890, engineered by George S. Morison[1] for the Portland & Puget Sound Railroad Company[6] (affiliated with Union Pacific), but that project was abandoned at an early stage.

Northern Pacific hired bridge builder Ralph Modjeski to design all three.

[1] Structural work on the bridge was completed in June 1908,[1] but its opening to traffic was delayed by problems concerning installation of the heavy machinery required to turn the huge swing span on the new Willamette River bridge located on the same line.

The swing span is located at the bridge's north end, in Washington, a short distance from the Vancouver Amtrak station.

[16] Boats requesting an opening should contact the bridge over VHF channel 13 using call sign KQ 9049.

The bridge's swing span is opened for river traffic an average of 12 times per day.