The bridge was opened on July 6, 2012 and completed the southern section of Pennsylvania Route 43, more commonly known as the Mon–Fayette Expressway.

Motorists can now travel via freeway for fifty-eight miles (93 km) between Morgantown, West Virginia and the Pittsburgh suburb of Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania.

[1] The total length of the bridge is 3,022 feet; 51,000 cubic yards of concrete were used to create the structure.

[2] In 2013, the Pennsylvania Legislature voted to name the bridge for Private First Class Ronald C. "Smokey" Bakewell, a local serviceman who was killed during the Vietnam War.

He was a member of Charlie Troop, First Battalion, Fifth Regiment, of the First Air Cavalry.