Designed by engineer Clarence W. Hudson and architect Carl L. Otto, both of New York City,[3] it is dedicated to George Washington, in honor of his crossing with General Rochambeau.

In 1959, the span, along with the approach roads, were redesignated as part of the newly created I-195, which, by the end of the year, extended to the Massachusetts border.

[4] Rhode Island Public Works refused to accept a design for the new bridge that didn't harmonize with the existing structure.

[4] A 2024 report on the bridge suggested that such pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete structures are poorly understood due to their rarity.

The westbound bridge had large amounts of its steel understructure replaced, which required some lanes to be closed during the entire project.

[7] Much of the repair was limited[clarification needed] by RI State budget constraints and other cost issues related to its age and the stress of multi-regional congested traffic traveling eastward to the Seekonk/Fall River suburbs and Cape Cod.

[9] The park consists of an 11-foot-wide bicycle lane, a separated footpath paved with stamped concrete, and several seating areas.

[14] Westbound traffic was initially detoured on an alternate route through East Providence and onto the newly reopened Henderson Bridge before rejoining with Interstate 195 via the Gano Street exit.

[15] Extreme volume along the detour route slowed typical trips across the river from a few minutes to over an hour; traffic on I-195 backed up into Massachusetts.

[16] East Providence schools were forced to indefinitely switch to an early-dismissal schedule, with remote learning only on the Wednesday after the closure.

[15] The "critical failure" was sheared pins noticed several days prior by an engineer working on old eastbound deck demolition for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc..[16] The pins had been intact as of the last inspection in July 2023, but the newly discovered damage put the bridge in danger of collapse.

[19] A 500-person ferry was planned to start trips from 6am to 7pm every half hour on Monday, December 18, between India Point and Bristol.

[21] On March 14, 2024, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee announced that the structure was not repairable, and would require demolition and complete replacement, a process estimated to take at least two years and cost around $300 million.

[22][23] As of October 17, 2024 it was reported that "[o]fficials have already acknowledged the $368 million price tag attached to the bridge rebuild in May is outdated and may be too low now.

Under the most recently-revised state timeline, bridge demolition, including the beams and piers below the thoroughfare, were supposed be completed by December 2025.