The 546-foot long skewed bascule bridge over the Gowanus Canal has two parallel leaves, one carrying four lanes of northbound traffic and the other carrying four lanes of southbound traffic. In addition to carrying approximately 45,000 vehicles per day, the bridge opens over 900 times per year for vessels providing service to a nearby concrete plant, a scrap metal center, and a fuel oil supplier.

Opened on August 27, 1942, the Hamilton Avenue Bridge was the first bridge designed using the Hanover skew bridge theory patented by Clinton Hanover, Jr. The Hanover skewed design is also known as a knee-girder bascule and has only been used for three other bridges in Florida: two in Miami and one in Boca Raton. Today only three of the four Hanover skew bridges in the United States remain in operation.

When the Hamilton Avenue Bridge exceeded its functional life, it was decided to replace the superstructure of the bridge in its entirety, along with making improvements to the mechanical and electrical control systems, approach roadways, fender system, navigational lights, control house, and gate tender house. Initial construction work on the project began in August 2005.

To minimize construction impacts to traffic, the bridge was replaced in two stages using an accelerated construction schedule. Roadway closures were only permitted in July and August when traffic volumes are reduced. The east bascule span was demolished and replaced in the two month period in the summer of 2007 using two 10-hour shifts operating seven days a week. The west bascule span was similarly replaced during the summer of 2008. During these construction stages, two-way traffic was maintained on the adjacent span and there were minimal navigational closures to marine vessels using the Gowanus Canal.

The bridge's superstructure was prefabricated and shop assembled off-site to ensure proper fitting and alignment and speed the on-site installation time. However, off-site preassembly was not a viable option because the constraints of the site including its location beneath the Gowanus Expressway overpass limited the ability for heavy cranes to operate. To help meet the ambitious construction schedule, the contractor came up with an idea to design a temporary non-electrical operating system to operate the bridge using a system of hydraulic cylinders. This allowed final alignment of the electrical machinery to take place after the full closure period.

Greenman-Pedersen served as the prime consultant for the $60M reconstruction project, along with Hardesty & Hanover as the moveable bridge designer, Kiewit Constructors as the contractor, Urbitran as the resident engineer, and NYCDOT FMS and Pennoni Associates provided steel fabrication QA. The Hamilton Avenue Bridge is owned and operated by NYCDOT.