The "Mainz-Nord Rhine Bridge", as it is officially known, is a double-track railroad bridge over the Rhine between Kastel and Mainz. The resistance of the Mainz fortification authorities prevented its construction for decades. After the railroad station facilities in Mainz and the Rhine bridge between Gustavsburg and Mainz proved to be bottlenecks during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the demand for a second Rhine bridge grew louder from the military side, also in connection with strategic considerations for the expansion of efficient rail links between the interior of the Reich and Lorraine ("Schlieffen Plan"). Kaiser Wilhelm II and Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine attended the opening on May 1, 1904.

Five arched river superstructures, secured by military towers, were used to cross the river. The architect was Franz Schwechten (1841-1924), who also designed the railroad bridges over the Rhine in Cologne. At the end of the Second World War (17/18.03.1945), the Wehrmacht blew up the Kaiser Bridge. Reconstruction was delayed as the Rhine here formed the border between the American and French occupation zones. The new Rhine bridge was only opened to traffic on 17.05.1955. The stream superstructures, which were designed as trussed girders, differ significantly from the arched bridge elements of the original structure in their linear construction. A memorial plaque at the Mainz bridgehead commemorates the engineer Gottwalt Schaper (1873-1942).

Only remnants of the original bridge towers remain. A stone plaque commemorating the opening of the bridge has survived on the foundations on the right bank of the Rhine. Both the Kaiserbrücke from 1904 and the renovated bridge from 1955 are technically closely related to the railroad Rhine bridges near Worms from 1900 and 1960.