The upper deck has been converted to a public space and no longer permits automobile traffic, but the lower deck is still open to pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles.

[2] It was constructed by Dorman Long Engineering Limited, the company that was also responsible for building the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, with piling works by Gammon Messrs (Malaya) Ltd. Its cost was estimated to be £820,000 in 1956.

In the 1990s, due to the high capacity traffic with the upgrading of the Federal Highway Route (Klang - Kuala Lumpur) into six lane carriageway toll highway, a further bridge was constructed directly next to Kota Bridge from 1991 to 1993.

[citation needed] The bridge has been used a film location for the Malaysian production Sangkar as well as for commercials.

An attempt to have the bridge gazetted as a national heritage site was launched in 2019.