The Bridge Engineering discipline of Tongji University was established in 1952 and was one of the first two Bridge Engineering disciplines set up among Chinese universities. In 1987, Tongji University founded China’s first Bridge Engineering Department. In 1988, was founded the State Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and was the first National Key Laboratory in Civil Engineering in China. In 1998, the Bridge Engineering discipline became the first discipline that recruited the first batch of special-appointed professors in the 'Changjiang Scholars Award Program' of the Ministry of Education and became one of the key disciplines of the national '211 Project'. Also, was selected as one of Shanghai’s ten 'Top Priorities' disciplines in 2000. Bridge and Tunnel Engineering discipline was ranked first in the two National Key Discipline Assessments in 2002 and 2007.

The Department of Bridge Engineering currently has 4 disciplinary groups, 11 research laboratories and 1 teaching and research office. They are the affiliated units of State Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention, the Key Laboratory of Bridge Structure Wind Resistance Technology and Transportation Industry, Tongji OVM Prestress Research Center and the Bridge Engineering Design Department of Tongji University Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd etc... They are also the permanent location of professional institutions such as the Chinese branch of the International Association of Bridges and Structural Engineering (IABSE), the Chinese Society of Civil Engineering (CCES) Bridge and Structural Engineering branch, the Wind Engineering Committee and other key Institutions.The bridge engineering department is currently composed by 88 faculty members, including 1 Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 2 Changjiang Scholars Distinguished Professors, 1 winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 1 Chief Scientist of the National 973 Program, 33 senior positions and deputy senior positions 21 people, 27 people with intermediate positions. Every year, about 75 undergraduates, 90 masters, and 25 doctoral students are recruited in bridge engineering.

With a total area of around 15,000 square meters, the Teaching and Scientific Research Base is composed of four pavilions which are: the Bridge pavilion, Wind Engineering pavilion, TJ-1 Wind Tunnel pavilion and Li Guohao experimental pavilion at Jiading campus. The Teaching and Scientific Research equipment includes five boundary layer wind tunnels, The world’s strongest comprehensive test capability multi-function shaking table array, the largest domestic tonnage two-way dynamic/static hydraulic servo loading system and a complete set of bridge inspection and monitoring equipment are represented. The total fixed assets are about 300 million yuan.

The Department of Bridge Engineering actively participates in the Chinese large-scale transportation infrastructure construction development strategy, and takes the cultivation of high-quality talents researchers of key technologies in bridge design, construction and management as its main goal. And is gradually forming a system combining the disciplinary characteristics with theoretical research, physical experiments, field measurements, and numerical simulation. The ultimate goal is to become a national-level important base and international center for training high-level talents, conducting high-level scientific research, accomplishing high-quality achievements which can develop the world bride engineering research industry.