Established by the Nebraska State Legislature in 1911, the state aid bridge program was designed to assist the counties in construction of major river crossings. In February 1913 Furnas County first applied for state aid to build a bridge across the Republican River south of Cambridge. The bridge was constructed in 1914. Over its twenty-five-year duration, the state aid bridge program was responsible for some seventy-seven structures, seventeen of which were concrete arch spans. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Cambridge Bridge is distinguished among these as one of the two oldest remaining.