This crossing was originally a railroad trestle for the Brainerd & Northern Railroad, a narrow gauge railroad that ran up to Canada and served the logging industry. This 1884 trestle was converted to be a steel bridge in 1951, and was repalced by the current steel girder bridge in the early 1950s. The bridge plate has the date 1981. Given the modern look of the railings, I supsect that the bridge was significantly rebuilt in the early 1980s.

This is one of five bridges to cross the Mississippi River in Brainerd. It is a relatively long bridge with relatively few piers which makes for a sleek looking structure. This bridge once carried MN State Highway 25. That route was turned back to the county, which now calls this section of highway Crow Wing County Highway 3.