The approach roads were designed by CH Dobbie & Partners of Cardiff,[3] later bought by Babtie, Shaw and Morton then Jacobs in 2004.

Although some have said that the resulting hump affects visibility and road safety, there have not been enough incidents causing injury for the Highways Agency to identify it for greater detailed investigation and possible amendments.

Frederick Gibberd Partners worked on the project to ensure the bridge was as sympathetic as possible to its surroundings, with the final design winning the approval of the Royal Fine Art Commission.

The main span was constructed using a balanced cantilever technique, casting sections on alternating sides of the pier in a weekly cycle.

The pre-stressed concrete box girder sections had VSL tendons and GKN super-strand wire rope.

[9] To reduce closure time and the pressure it imposes on local roads, in 2021 Highways England installed electronic variable speed limits on the bridge and the approaches each side.

[14] When the bridge is closed in both directions for more than a short period of time, normally as a safety precaution due to high winds, most of Ipswich's roads are brought to a near-standstill by diverted traffic.

[15][16] The bridge appears in the 1987 Cold War drama The Fourth Protocol, in which two RAF helicopters are shown flying under it, and at the end of the 2013 film The Numbers Station.