It was replaced by a new bridge in 1927, which was badly damaged during the Second World War, but rebuilt and is still serves rail traffic between the Ruhr region and Aachen.

On 23 August 1866, the Rhenish Railway Company (Rheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, RhE) opened its line between Osterrath and Essen to connect the coal mines in the Ruhr region with its railway network, which at that time was mainly located on the west bank of the Rhine.

Hints in 1869 that military opinion had changed led the company to apply immediately for permission to construct a bridge from Rheinhausen to Duisburg.

On 30 June 1923, during the occupation of the Ruhr a time bomb exploded while a Belgian military train was crossing the bridge.

This was demolished as far as the left-bank bridge pylon in order to remove impediments to shipping and the discharge of floods.

The steel superstructure for the 907 metre-long rail bridge was built by two local construction companies, Friedrich-Alfred-Hütte (part of the Krupp group) of Rheinhausen and Harkort of Duisburg.

However the following year German troops blew up the entire bridge on 4 March 1945, as they retreated from the western bank of the Rhine.

Immediately after the American army crossed the Rhine, the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment (as a member of ADSEC Engineer Group "A") constructed a replacement railway bridge 2,815 feet (858 m) long over the river in the record time of six days, fifteen hours and twenty minutes.

The ramps were built over the local marshalling yards of Krupp and German railways, partly assembled from the abundant debris that had accumulated on both sides as a result of the war.