This bridge looks much like a modern Interstate highway bridge, with not one cent spent on making it look attractive or decorative, which is unexpected given the size of the river at this location. The river in this area has high banks, so there are no back-water channels for the river to spread out. It is actually very much like a lake. A contributing factor is the lock and dam located just downstream.

There is some controversy among highway fans, road geeks, and state highway transportation groups over the highway numbering scheme in the Quad Cities. Normally, the 2-digit interstate goes through town, while the 3-digit interstates make the loops around town. In the case of the Quad Cities, I-80 is the eastern and norther loop around town. A side effect is that traffic has to take exit and entrance ramps at an interchange on the southeast side of the city in order to remain on I-80. Pundits say that I-80 should continue west along the path currently designated at I-280. In addition, some pundits think that I-74 should continue north from the interchange in question, again avoiding taking ramps, and make the east and north loop around the Quad Cities. Doing do would eliminate the need for the I-280 number. That all sounds good in theory, but in practice, the I-80 simply shifts the interchange with ramps to the west side of town rather than the east side of town, and eliminating the I-280 route simply leaves the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge without a number. Pundits suggest calling that I-174, which again introduces a 3-digit interstate highway number.

In 1995, this bridge was officially named in memory of Fred Schwengle, an 8-term Congressman from Iowa who was key in getting the Interstate Highway Act passed into law.