The one-span suspension bridge that it replaced was of historical interest as a monument to early 19th-century Egyptomania.
Other examples of this influence are the Gold Pyramid House in Illinois or the famous Obelisk (Washington Monument) in Washington, D.C. Movies such as The Mummy (1999) (itself a remake of a 1932 Boris Karloff film) and its sequels demonstrate that ancient Egypt and the discovery of its secrets is still a powerful point of reference for contemporary western cultures.
The primary reason Egyptomania penetrated film the way it did was the celebrated discovery of King Tutankhamun tomb in 1922.