Plans to replace the span were considered as early as 1901[5]: 174  and solidified by August 1902, with engineers settling on a Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge as the preferred design and a budget of at least $1,000,000.

Its twin 75 horsepower (56 kW) gasoline engines could quickly raise its superstructures to the minimum required distance to accommodate low-height vessels like barges (which made up roughly 80% of the channel's traffic),[6]: 254  and the rails could be more thoroughly secured to the bridge deck at its leaf joints (thus permitting higher train speeds).

Bridge movement, interlocking, and signals were controlled from a large manned structure on the operational midpoint between the east and west draw spans and above the tracks.

[9] During World War II, the bridge was a critical piece of the Port of New York and New Jersey's logistic network, allowing 300 or more trains per day to supply troops and materials for American efforts in the European theatre.

On September 15, 1958, a commuter train plunged off the south span which had been opened for marine traffic, killing 48 people, including former New York Yankees second baseman Snuffy Stirnweiss.

[16] Despite Bayonne's efforts to save the bridge, demolition of the central lift spans began in July 1980 after the United States Coast Guard declared the structure a navigational hazard to ships.