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The bridge carries two 12' wide sidewalks and four lanes of traffic. One of the sidewalks carries the Pinellas Trail, a regional pedestrian/bikeway. There are four overlooks on each side of the bridge at the piers that are fitted with benches. The railings are designed to be transparent to bridge users enjoying the view and include the city's logo, a nautilis. The downtown abutment includes a spiral ramp to get trail users down to waterfront level.

The structural system consists of two segmentally cast in place haunched trapezoidal box girders. The tapered sides minimize the width of the tapered piers, allowing the girder and pier to flow into each other in a single sweep. The bridge's horizontal and vertical curves were coordinated with the curves of the haunches to give the whole bridge a flowing sculptural shape that emulates the water below. These lines are reinforced by shallow recesses in the soffit of the girders that continue onto the faces of the piers.

The white surface of the bridge takes on by reflection the color of the water at any given time, seafoam green on a bright sunny day and, in the evening, all of the colors of the sunset.

Later structural modifications resulted in a vertical slit in the four center piers. These openings are lit to give the bridge a memorable appearance at night.

Mr. Gottemoeller was aesthetic and urban design consultant for the new bridge and developed all of the architectural details.