At the time of the Memphis bridge construction, it was a significant technological challenge and is considered to be chief engineer George S. Morison's crowning achievement.

The bridge is built entirely of open-hearth steel, a newly developed material at the time of construction.

[4] Construction for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway, later acquired by the "Frisco," began in 1888 and was completed May 12, 1892.

In the end the project created a bridge that was the farthest south on the Mississippi River, featured the longest truss span in the United States and cost nearly 3 million dollars.

[7] The bridge was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1987.