Requests for bids for the Grand Street Bridge were announced in the trade publication Contractor, for the "substructure, superstructure and approaches".

[2]: 70  [3]: 72  The June 1916 issue of Contractor announced that Edward DeVoe Tompkins, Inc., obtained the contract with the lowest bid of $187,000.

[4]: 70  The contract, signed on May 16, 1916, stipulated that work on the bridge was to begin within 15 days and the project's original deadline would be September 1, 1917.

[6] The contract called for the complete construction of the bridge, including the approaches on each side of the river and four piers with each consisting of two cylindrical columns of reinforced concrete.

These stipulations required the use of a cofferdam to deposit the concrete, but boring in the river showed that it did not have a suitable bottom upon which to build.

[5] The project was delayed for months because due to the consulting engineer's discussions, via mail, between Bridgeport and Chicago.

[5] In early 1917, Tompkins submitted a plan to attempt a pumping out of the constructed cofferdam, which it noted as dangerous to the crew.

Burr's alterations called for an open caisson for the central piers which made impossible the projection of piles into the concrete and required dredging that was unnecessary under the initial Strauss plan.

The commission had Tompkin's crew forcibly ejected from the site on September 3, 1917 and took possession of its equipment until October 19, 1917.

[6] Edward DeVoe Tompkins, Inc. suffered numerous delays in the construction of the bridge and sued the City of Bridgeport.

[6] The Grand Street Bridge opened for traffic in 1919, but had to be closed in 1932 after the southeast pier was excessively settled.

The Connecticut Highway Department and federal government provided the funds required to remove the bascule leaves and replace the pier in 1936.

[1]: 27 [7] In 2010, the United States Coast Guard struck the rule pertaining to the operation of the bridge due to its removal.