[1] 595 meters in length, it is one of five bridges crossing the Daugava in Riga and passes over Ķīpsala island.

It was built during the Soviet period and opened to public use on 21 July 1981 as the Gorky Bridge (Latvian: Gorkija tilts) after Maxim Gorky street, today renamed Krišjānis Valdemārs street, which it extends across the river.

The only one with lethal consequences was on 7 June 2012, when a man committed suicide by jumping down from the bridge's cables.

[2] After the incident Riga City Council ordered for barbed wire entanglements to be installed on the cables.

[3] In 2013 a beach with a playground and volleyball field was opened next to the Vanšu bridge in Ķīpsala.