The Big Four Bridge was rebuilt in 1928-1929 after the original structure proved incapable of bearing the weight of modern diesel engines and their loads. While Louisville was also pressing to build a downtown automobile bridge, the city faced the necessity of building two bridges at once and succeeded. Work on the railroad bridge moved quickly through an unusual solution: a new bridge was built inside the old bridge. By June 6, 1929, the rebuilt Big Four had been completed in a remarkably short time. Construction of the original bridge began in October 1887, and it was completed in August 1895. In June 1895, one month before opening, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway Company, known as the Big Four, took over the bridge to gain access to Louisville. The bridge measured 2,545 feet long, and with the original Kentucky and Indiana approaches its full span reached 10,273 feet. As part of the 1928-1929 reconstruction, the old superstructure was cut off and lowered piece by piece to the deck for dismantling. The new bridge was built wide with only a single track, intended for passengers rather than freight, which had shifted to road transportation. The bridge later fell into disuse in the late 1960s, was declared abandoned by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1969, and its approaches were removed in 1974. The bridge was reclassified as a pedestrian and bicycle bridge in 2013 after rehabilitation carried out from 2007 to 2015 as part of Waterfront Park Phase IV. The conversion added decking, steel, beams, handrails, curbs, and lighting. Because the approaches had been removed, a new quarter-mile elliptical ramp was designed to provide access. Construction on the Jeffersonville side was completed in 2014, and the revived bridge became a link between the two downtowns.