[2] Measuring 372 metres (1,220 ft) in length, the railway bridge carried a single-track main line.

It was constructed by the Saint John Bridge and Railroad Extension Company which was a municipal-owned corporation established to connect two separated sections of the former European and North American Railway project.

A replacement structure keeping much of the same design was opened in 1922 to accommodate heavier loads; the original being demolished in 1921.

In 1976 NB Power constructed the Lorneville Pipeline from Irving Oil's Canaport supertanker oil terminal at Red Head, 4 km (2.5 mi) southeast of the city to the Coleson Cove Generating Station, 16 km (9.9 mi) southwest of the city; it crosses the Saint John River using this bridge.

By December 2022 the CDN$17 million refurbishing of the bridge was completed after 90,000 hours of work by a team of eighty "engineers, technicians, operators, skilled tradespeople and labourers" from JDI, Irving Oil, and Enbridge.