[25] In 2016, the New York City Department of Transportation, which operates and maintains the bridge, reported an average daily traffic volume in both directions of 57,647.

The eastern arch crosses the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line and the Major Deegan Expressway (carrying Interstate 87).

[10][23] Each of the arches consists of six large girders made of riveted steel beams, with heavy chords at the top and bottom.

[4][31] Unusually for arch bridges of the time, the deck lacks diagonal bracing, instead being supported by beams running horizontally and vertically.

[4][37] The masonry approach viaducts at either end both contain three semicircular concrete arches, clad in granite and gneiss ashlar.

[4][40] In the original design, there was a granite staircase with bluestone steps, which led to Boscobel Place just south of the bridge.

[4][22][41] At the eastern end of the bridge, the westbound and eastbound lanes diverge from each other and merge with the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95 and US 1).

[18][28][b] Planning for a bridge carrying pedestrians and transit between the West Bronx and Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan, dates to the 1860s.

[44][45] A crossing slightly north of the High Bridge was first proposed by Andrew Haswell Green, a member of Central Park's board of commissioners.

[46] Green had suggested constructing bridges and tunnels across the Harlem River between Manhattan and the Bronx, the latter of which was then in Westchester County.

[51][56] The New York State Legislature finally transferred authority to a new Harlem River Bridge Commission in June 1885 under Chapter 487 of the Laws of 1885.

[60][61] The submissions were required to include an over-river crossing at least 400 feet (120 m) long, a metal superstructure, masonry piers, and an 80-foot-wide (24 m) deck.

The Commission nonetheless believed it would be satisfactory, but neither side wished to undertake the expense and delay of a formal legal determination.

[21] McAlpine requested Julius W. Adams to prepare a plan for a bridge of masonry, although it would fail to meet the terms of the competition.

The Union Bridge Company presented a modified plan combining Schneider's and Hildenbrand's proposals, with steel ribs made of solid webs, although it was also rejected by the commission.

[67][70][71] The same month construction began, McAlpine resigned as chief engineer and William Rich Hutton was appointed in his place.

Another wharf was built on the east bank of the river, and a 12-foot-deep (3.7 m) channel from both wharves was dredged 1,500 feet (460 m) south to the High Bridge.

In early 1886, a trestle platform with tracks was installed between the eastern wharf and Sedgwick Avenue, which runs close to the coastline.

[36] The layer of bedrock under the Harlem River Manhattan Bridge's westernmost large pier was close to the ground, and it was ready for masonry by October 1886.

[6][85] Work on the Harlem River Manhattan Bridge was substantially completed in December 1888, and pedestrians with special passes were allowed to informally use it.

[85][86][87] The crossing was turned over to the Harlem River Bridge Commission, which voted to name it after president George Washington in February 1889 in honor of his birthday and the centennial of his inauguration.

[97] The Washington Bridge was opened to automobile and streetcar traffic two years later on May 31, 1906,[98] with two tracks for the Interborough Railway Company.

[103] A contract for the work was awarded to Poirier and McLane in November 1929, which entailed widening the roadway by 14 feet (4.3 m) and moving the trolley tracks.

The streetcar tracks were removed, and a median barrier was built between the two directions of traffic, creating two 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) granite roadways with three lanes.

These projects would connect the Bronx and New Jersey directly via the Interstate Highway System, accommodating increased traffic in construction with the addition of a lower level to the George Washington Bridge.

By 1988, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) estimated that it would cost $25 million to fix the Washington Bridge.

[126] The Washington Bridge underwent a $33 million reconstruction starting that October, which included replacing the deck, steel, sidewalk, and railings.

Cosmopolitan, Scientific American, and The New York Sun respectively called the bridge an "adornment",[133] an "ornament",[28][134] and "a great work worthy of the city".

[9][135] Schuyler subsequently wrote that, although the arch had been modified to appear as though it was a conventional design, "neither is there any question of the attractiveness […] of the Washington and the old High Bridge".

David W. Dunlap wrote for The New York Times in 1985, "Just the existence of another prominent bridge by that name surprises even native New Yorkers, some of whom have wondered for years why the Hudson River crossing insistently carries the extra burden of 'George.