The bridge was built in 1903, with the survey work and planning begun by the White River Railway, which was purchased by the Saint Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway on March 26, 1903. At the time, this location was known as Lake's Ferry, but the name was changed to Cotter, named after William Cotter, a manager on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Both the StLIM&S and MP were interests of Jay Gould, and the purpose of the bridge and route was to connect the two properties. The Army Corps of Engineers determined that the White River was navigable, so a turn span was built to allow passage of river traffic, which all but disappeared after the arrival of the railroad. When the bridge was completed, the span was turned just once for testing, and never turned again. It may appear that there is plenty of room for river barges to pass below, but before the dam was built about ten miles upstream, spring floods would raise the river to within a few feet of the bottom of the bridge, flooding the railroad yard and roundhouse just a few hundred yards downstream.