The new Bloomington Ferry Bridge was built on a new alignment that followed the old County Highway 18 straight south across the Minnesota River. County 18 was upgraded to a 4-lane expressway, then renamed to be US-169 when the bridge was completed. At the same time, new US-169 freeway was built around Shakopee starting at the south end of the new bridge. Later on, the Pioneer Trail and Anderson Lakes Parkway intersections were converted to freeway interchanges, leaving just one grade crossing on US-169 south of I-494 in the metro area.

The new Bloomington Ferry Bridge has been the catalyst for a major boom in Savage, Shakopee, and Scott County. Prior to the new bridge, the old river crossing would flood every second or third spring, and sometimes again in the summer. The typical flood would close the crossing for a month, and cause significant damage to the approach road.

The first photo shows the main river span of the new Ferry Bridge. This section is steel, whereas the remainder of the bridge uses pre-stressed concrete girders. In addition, the piers are decorated with stone, while the remaining piers are raw concrete. The steel has additional plates welded to the girders above the piers to increase the strength of the beams. These details are rarely seen given that the main span is hidden deep within the Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge and cannot be seen from any public location other than by hiking into the refuge.

The photos two, three, and four are a south-bound trip across the bridge. Similarly, photos five, six, and seven are a north-bound crossing. The remaining four photos are near or under the bridge structure south of the main river channel.