The current Indian River Inlet Bridge opened partially in January 2012 and completely in May 2012 at a cost of $150 million.

It carries four 12-foot (3.7-meter) lanes of traffic (two northbound and two southbound), a 4-foot (1.2-meter) interior and 10-foot (3-meter) exterior shoulder in each direction, and a 12-foot (3.7-meter)-wide sidewalk on the east side of the bridge for pedestrians and bicycles.

In recognition for his service on the Commission, the bridge was dedicated on May 28, 1940, in his name for his advocacy for the proper opening of the inlet and the internal development of the Indian River.

[7] Until 1928, the Indian River Inlet was a natural waterway that shifted up and down a two-mile (3.2 km) stretch of the coast.

Dredging kept the inlet open in its current location between 1928 and 1937, and in 1938 the United States Army Corps of Engineers built jetties that hold it in place.

This swing bridge, which included a 4-foot (1.2-meter) pedestrian walkway and cost $165,900, opened with a dedication ceremony on May 28, 1940,[7][9] but collapsed on February 10, 1948, succumbing to a combination of a very high tide combined with an easterly wind and ice flows deeply scouring the inlet bottom under its piers; a pickup truck on the bridge at the time of the collapse fell into the inlet, killing three men who drowned inside the truck.

[8] By the late 1980s, scouring was severe enough to allow U.S. Army Corps of Engineers divers to swim beneath one of the span's concrete footings.

[8][12] Scouring had increased the inlet's depth to over 100 feet (30 meters) by 1999,[5][7] leading the Corps of Engineers and Delaware officials to question the stability of the pilings and their protective riprap.

With an estimated cost of $65 million, the new bridge would have had no piers in the water, avoiding the scouring problems that had plagued the earlier spans.

However, the tied-arch design deterred all but one bidder on the construction contract, and that bid came in much higher than expected and was more than DelDOT could afford at the time.

[14] Legal problems also began to affect progress, when an unsuccessful bidder on the new construction contract questioned the process by which it had been awarded to another company that had made a bid of $124.9 million – $800,000 more than the lowest bid – but had nonetheless won the contract based on ambiguous pricing and technical criteria.

[2] Faced with the possibility of a lawsuit, DelDOT in October 2007 decided to cancel construction of the bridge under the existing contract, have the unstable approach ramps removed, and rebid the contract for a longer, 2,600-foot (792-meter) cable-stayed bridge – again without piers in the water – of a new design that did not require the flawed approach ramps.

[14] During 2008, the approach ramps were removed, and the Delaware legislature passed a new bond bill making it easier for state officials to award a bid under clearer pricing and technical criteria.

In May 2009, public voting for the aesthetic design features of the bridge decided that the cables would be blue, the pylon tops would be slanted with railings, and the lighting fixtures for the walkway would have a nautical theme.

[17] By December 2009, construction had begun on the approach foundations and the edge girders, with work continuing on the pylon towers and the side abutments.

[18] The completion of the design phase of the project and the beginning of the concrete pour for the bridge deck took place in April 2010.

Senator Tom Carper, and DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt rode in the first car across the bridge.