The bridge is owned and maintained by the railway company, although maintenance costs are shared by the Government of Nova Scotia's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

The bridge is a 94 m (308 ft) long swing bridge of a truss design which carries the Trans-Canada Highway road and railway line across the canal immediately south of the southern end of the canal's single lock.

The bridge carried its first traffic (a train) on April 18, 1955 when the Canso Causeway construction was completed.

Ownership was transferred to the CBNS after that company purchased the Truro-Sydney railway line in 1993.

The railway employs a bridge operator who is required by federal law to rotate the structure to accommodate vessel passage.