A total of $10,476,268 was spent on construction of the 1,762-foot bridge over the Ohio River connecting Vanport and Potter townships, which was opened to traffic on December 23, 1968.

[1] As a vital part of the Beaver Valley Expressway it was carrying approximately 30,000 vehicles daily in 1990.

[2] In January 1990, the bridge was closed for three days after corrosion and fourteen cracks in welds were discovered during a routine Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) inspection.

Damage was located in the bottom truss plate that held the steel box beam in the central span.

The Vanport Bridge remained restricted to traffic until October 2001, when an out of control apple truck crashed into a crew of carpenters, killing five.