Due to an upgrade to the line which runs beneath it, the abutments of the bridge will be raised by 4 feet 7 inches (1.4 m), and then the iron arch re-installed at a new height to accommodate electric overhead wires underneath.

[5][3][6] The bridge was renewed by the LNER in 1943 (when a timber deck was installed above the original surface, making the structure non-loadbearing) and it was also renovated by Railtrack in 1999.

[5] The bridge was grade II listed in 2015, being hailed by Historic England as a "..testament to one of the "Victorian's greatest achievements" - railways.

Therefore, it is of historical interest due to its association with Barnbow, and it being the oldest cast iron bridge still in-situ over a working railway in the world.

[18][note 2][20] The bridge has the numbered designation of HUL 4/20 on the British railway's engineer's line reference system, being nearly 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Leeds railway station, and 14 miles 49 chains (23.5 km) west of Selby.