The name for this bridge was thought of by Yves Jasmin, Director of Information, Publicity and Public Relations for Expo 67. The idea being that the USA and the USSR had been competing against each other in the space race in the late 1950's and throughout the 1960's decade. The bridge therefore linked these two countries pavilions from Île Sainte Hélène to Île Notre Dame since they were directly across from each other.