Near its east abutment are the Schuylkill Grandstand (for viewing rowing regattas) and the John B. Kelly statue.

An inclined plane on the bridge's west side drew the railway cars up Belmont Hill by cable.

In 1851, the Philadelphia and Reading Railway bought the bridge from the state.

[6] The second bridge was erected in 1886 by the Philadelphia and Reading Railway to carry increasingly heavy freight traffic.

It was a two-track, wrought-iron Pratt truss bridge that served until 1920.