The 43 span, 1,733'-long Ashley River bridge has a double leaf patented Strauss trunnion bascule main span with underneath counterweights. Each bascule leaf is 101'-long. The Mediterranean Revival-style houses at each of the bascule corners are among the bridge's most distinctive features. The T beam approach spans range from 35' to 76' in length and are composed of 4 lines of shaped beams supported on 2 column reinforced concrete bents with battered columns. In 1988, because of settlement and scour problems, the substructure was modified by the placement of prestressed concrete piles to each side of the original piers and bents and post-tensioned caps tied into the original caps. The sidewalks are supported on cantilevered sections with brackets. Luminaires (which appear to be original or in-kind replacements) are set atop battered, octagonal concrete standards. The lighting compliments the overall Neo-classical styling of the handsome bridge.

The Ashley River Bridge ranks as one of the most architectonic and significant bridges built by the state highway department in the 1920s. Its successful completion in 1925-26 established the technical and organizational competence of the state highway department under the leadership of state engineer Charles Moorefield. It is the oldest of the two identified pre-1961 bascule highway bridges in the state, and it features a patented underneath counterweight trunnion design of Joseph B. Strauss who was considered a major contributor to the improved efficiency of bascule design prior to World War I. The bridge has historical and technological significance. In outward appearance, the bridge has few major alterations other than the strengthening of the substructure. It remains a choice example of the City Beautiful Movement.