This bridge was officially named Ponte D. Maria II (D. Maria II Bridge), never having been called by this name though. The engineers Mellet and Bigot were the ones responsible for the project, and the foundation stone was set in 1841. The bridge was open to public use in 1843.The bridge had two 18m tall masonry obelisks on each side, on top of which were the suspension cables of the 6meter wide plate.
The central span of the bridge occupied 150m of the 170m between the cliff of Guindais and the Penedo, in Gaia. The cables comprising 220 cords each, kept the plate at a distance of 10m above water level, being anchored in vertical pits of 8m on the side of Porto and 14 m on the side of Gaia. These days there are but two obelisks on the right bank of the river.