In 1872, it was a swing bridge across the marine inlet channel of the inner basin of the Careenage (Constitution River) at Carlisle Bay.

[2] The outmoded steel structure was dismantled and rebuilt in 2005–2006[3] as a lifting bridge with the state-of the-art modern technology of an all-composite single-leaf[1] bascule design.

[4] This design is a counterweighted bridge span that pivots upward, permitting pleasure craft to pass through an inlet channel.

The bridge was later renamed after Joseph Chamberlain, who, as the British Colonial Secretary in the 1890s, was instrumental in shielding the West Indian sugar industry against stiff competition from Europe.

[6] Fifty years later, in 1751, the second bridge was rebuilt but it also ended in disaster due to poor construction, which necessitated the authorities to prosecute the builders.

You deserve to rest now And view all sorts of cargo passing by In this temporal grove, the Careenage Of still waters ‘neath arched extremities With trade from Caricom communities; As pleasure crafts sail with the cool sea breeze For you give them shelter from angry seas.

To your north stand political towers, The Cathedral and the heroes in the Square, Your frame preserved the tracks, stains and bruises Caused by every thing flowing over you; Some have mishandled you and raped you too; Yet your NISE arms swung with pride and beauty; Your rest deserved; you have done your duty.

With Indians' feathered quills they wrote ’bout The blood, the sweat and tears of by-gone slaves, Your blows from hurricanes and killer waves, Yet your timbered heart did find common ground With Wolferstone, and Chamberlain, profound!"

[14][15] The new lift bridge stretches from National Heroes Square to the other bank, permitting seagoing ships to dock in the inner basin of the river in the rebuilt Careenage.

Careenage inlet takes its name from the process of careening, in which weight would be tied to a ship’s mast to upturn it, exposing the hull so that it could be cleaned and painted.

[19] While the importance of the Careenage River channel and the draw bridge across it was the nucleus of activity for inter-island trading vessels, its current use is mostly for operation of recreational crafts such as catamarans, yachts, fishing boats and so forth.

Finally, a unique design using fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite known as the "space age material" was chosen.

The basic composition of FRP is an engineered polymer or plastic with glass reinforcement with supplements of additives and core materials.

The lift bridge was designed as an all-composite double-leaf bascule bridge with custom design adopting “Strongwell's Composolite building panel system, Strongwell EXTREN structural shapes and a custom, heavy-duty building panel.” EXTREN square tubes of different sizes provided the attractive architectural railing on the sides.