The GW is named in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Its chief engineer was Othmar Ammann. Construction of the bridge began in September 1927, a project of the Port of New York Authority. It was dedicated on October 24, 1931.

When it opened, the bridge had the longest main span in the world; at 1067 m (3500 ft), it nearly doubled the previous record of 564 m (1850 ft), which had been held by the Ambassador Bridge. (The record has since been exceeded numerous times.) The total length of the bridge is 1451 m (4760 ft).

The bridge was originally constructed with only a single deck, but a second, lower deck, which had been anticipated in its design, was added in 1962. It was also originally planned that the towers of the bridge would be encased in concrete and granite. However, due to cost and favorable aesthetic critiques of the bare steel towers, this was never done.

Current tolls for cars is $6, $5 peak hours with E-ZPass, $4 off-peak. Trucks are charged $6 per axle.

The bridge carries Interstate 95, United States Highway 1, and United States Highway 9 from New Jersey to New York. United States Highway 46 terminates at the state border in the middle of the bridge.

The bridge was prominently featured in the Spider-Man books when Spider-Man's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, is kidnapped and held at the bridge by the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin pushes her off, but when Spider-Man tried to stop her fall by grabbing her legs with his web, Stacy's neck breaks, killing her.

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