The bridge was first completed in 1892 with a single track, but its piers were sized for future widening.

[1] The bridge is featured prominently in the Warner Bros. film We Are Marshall in a scene in which Jack Lengyel (played by Matthew McConaughey) visits William "Red" Dawson (played by Matthew Fox) at his home.

The scene was filmed at a private residence on Barger Hill in Kenova, which overlooks the town and the three states converging at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers.

In the scene Lengyel makes reference to the train crossing it and uses it as an analogy for putting one's life back on track.

On March 4, 2013, Norfolk Southern noted the 100th anniversary of the completion of the expanded bridge.