The original Hamm Railway Bridge (named after the Düsseldorf-Hamm district) was a two-track bridge of the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company. It was inaugurated in 1870 as the first permanent Rhine bridge in Düsseldorf. At the end of World War II, the bridge, like all other Rhine bridges, was demolished. Until the construction of the new Hamm Rhine Bridge, the old towers were used, but were too narrow and weak for the new bridge. The new bridge (BAS 143) was built directly adjacent, and the old bridge towers were preserved as monuments.