It is carried over the Swan River at the eastern end of Perth Water by two bridges on either side of Heirisson Island.

Cracks were repaired using carbon fibre reinforcement and localised patching, extending the bridge's life by decades.

[1] Land transportation was difficult as the only river crossing near Perth, a ford at the eastern end of the town, was often impassable for wagons and carts.

[2] The only alternative to these river crossings were ferries, which operated from North Fremantle,[3] Preston Point,[4][5] and the Narrows.

[2] Soon after the colony was founded, settlers lobbied for the construction of a road across the mudflats in the Swan River at the eastern end of the town.

A preliminary survey of the site was conducted in 1834 by the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, George Fletcher Moore,[6] together with Surveyor General John Septimus Roe.

[8] A year later, in January 1838, the Perth Gazette noted that preliminary work had been carried out towards building the Causeway,[9] which is thought to have been the upgrading of Adelaide Terrace from the "bush track" it was previously.

[8][10] On 16 February 1839 plans which had been prepared by Roe were submitted by the committee's chairman to Henry Trigg, the Superintendent of Public Works.

[8] At a meeting of the committee on 27 February 1839, Trigg submitted a plan designed by Major Frederick Irwin, which was estimated to cost £2,300.

[11] This original Causeway consisted of a central bridge (for river navigation), with a raised rampart on either side.

[11] The Causeway was originally a toll road, and costs for crossing ranged from one penny (1d) for a person on foot to 6d for a horse-drawn cart.

[13] In Perth, Mounts Bay Road was completely submerged, and the original Causeway was almost destroyed after being under 2.1 or 2.4 metres (7 or 8 ft) of water.

[6] The second Causeway was to be opened by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred; however the Royal Navy ship HMS Galatea failed to call in to Western Australia on its way to Sydney.

[26] By 1954, traffic entering the city by the Causeway had doubled, leading to renewed calls for a new bridge further west at the Narrows.

The Narrows and the Causeway continued to be the only road crossings of the Swan River between Fremantle and Maylands until the Windan Bridge of the Graham Farmer Freeway opened in 2000.

[30] The variable-quality of the cement which had been used in the construction of the Causeway bridges meant that, by the early 2000s, they had suffered significant damage.

[22] The Causeway bridges received an interim entry on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places on 30 June 1998, which was made permanent on 30 October 1998.

[31] In March 2023, construction on the Boorloo Bridge 90 metres (300 ft) downstream began, to allow pedestrians and cyclists to bypass the narrow footpath along the Causeway.

[32][33] The Causeway begins in East Perth, at the intersection of Riverside Drive, Adelaide Terrace, and Hay Street.

The Causeway ends at a grade-separated partial cloverleaf interchange, located 200 metres (660 ft)[36] south-east of the second bridge.

[37][38] Continues as Shepperton Road southeast (State Route 30) Causeway to Canning Highway southbound is looped.