The arch bridge carries the Northeast Corridor (NEC) at MP 30.92.

[5] The first crossing of the Raritan at this point was wooden bridge on masonry substructure, constructed in 1838 by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company.

It was a 1,577 feet (481 m) long double-deck Howe truss bridge with a highway on the lower deck.

[1] In 1896, the superstructure was again renewed with five deck truss-spans, each 147 feet (45 m) long, and one drawspan over the canal, all for two tracks.

[1] In the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, the title character becomes so frustrated and despondent over the futility of his romantic pursuits that he gets drunk, walks out onto the Raritan River railroad bridge, and attempts suicide by jumping off, surviving only because he lands in the shrubs on a garden divider on Route 18.