The Chain Bridge is a 225-foot, single-span suspension bridge, which crosses the right branch of the Merrimack River flowing around Deer Island. As the boundary between the city of Newburyport and the city of Amesbury, Massachusetts runs through Deer Island, Chain Bridge does connect the two communities. Crossing from the island to the left bank of the Merrimack requires traversing the Derek S. Hines Memorial Bridge, formerly the Essex-Merrimack Drawbridge (reconstructed and reopened in August, 2012).