The original bridge was a
Scherzer rolling lift double-leaf bascule bridge constructed in 1929–31. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1982, as the
14th Avenue South Bridge. The original bridge was already in poor condition when it was further damaged by the
Nisqually earthquake of 2001. In 2002, King County inspectors gave the bridge a score of 6 out of a possible 100, per Federal Highway Administration criteria, and the rating later fell to as low as 4. This compares to a score of 50 for the
I-35W Mississippi River bridge, which collapsed in August 2007. However, due to a lack of county, state and federal funding for a proposed replacement project, the South Park Bridge continued to operate in its deteriorated condition. Although plans to build a new bridge were ready, the project failed to receive a $99 million federal
TIGER I grant in early 2010. The bridge was finally closed June 30, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. Dismantling of the bridge began in late August 2010, with removal of the lift span sections, even while the outlook for the proposed replacement project remained unclear. County officials subsequently secured funds for replacement of the entire bridge, and work to replace the bridge began in May 2011. ==Second bridge==