In 1926 Kangaroo Point was recommended by the Brisbane City Council's Cross River Commission.

[citation needed] The Queensland Government appointed John Bradfield on 15 December 1933 as consulting engineer to the Bureau of Industry who were in charge of the construction of the bridge.

[4] On 30 April 1935 a consortium of two Queensland companies, Evans Deakin and Hornibrook Constructions, won the tender with a bid of £1,150,000.

[6][7] Construction on the bridge began on 24 May 1935,[6] with the first sod being turned by the then Premier of Queensland, William Forgan Smith.

The primary challenge in constructing the bridge was the southern foundations that went 40 metres (130 ft) below ground level.

An on-site air lock hospital successfully treated the 65 cases of the bends that occurred.

[11] On 6 December 1939, Arthur McKay (Max) Wharton was hit by a piece of equipment on a nerve that made him faint, falling from the bridge to the water; 18 months earlier Wharton saved another worker from falling from the bridge.

Construction of a new underpass was begun on the southside in 2023 to facilitate access to the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge.

[13] The Story Bridge carries three lanes of traffic in either direction as well as a shared pedestrian and cycle way flanking each side.

[20] The Story Bridge features prominently in the annual Riverfire fireworks display and is illuminated at night.

The celebration attracted almost 75,000 visitors to the bridge who enjoyed food, drink and entertainment as they walked across lanes usually reserved for vehicles.

[24] Following two high-profile murder-suicides from the bridge in 2011 and 2012, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced plans to install free telephones linked to suicide prevention hotlines.

[27] In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Story Bridge was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "structure and engineering feat".