 The contractor was to dig a 50 foot wide channel through the mud which would then be filled with dredged sand from the nearby waters.Although the preliminary work moved forward, progress on the superstructure of the bridge was held up for many months due to the lack of steel during World War II; the military supported the completion of the project, though, and the project moved forward again starting in 1943.The bridge opened to traffic on June 18, 1945.