It connects the redeveloped Wynyard Quarter with Te Wero Island and the existing Viaduct Harbour entertainment district, and thereby, with the wider Auckland waterfront.

[1][2] At high tide, the closed bridge has a 3 m clearance and smaller boats do not require the spans to be raised.

[3] Opening and closing the bridge, which takes 90 and 60 seconds respectively, is controlled by an on-site operator contactable by boats via radio.

[3] The bridge was proposed after high costs, estimated at $50 million,[3] combined with financing issues during the Great Recession, prevented a more sizable structure (capable of carrying buses and trams) from being built in time for the Rugby World Cup 2011.

[5] The design for the larger bridge, chosen in 2008 in an international competition, would have been a lightweight aluminium, counterbalanced, cable-supported, twin-leaf, bascule structure, with a 60 m (200 ft) high mast.