Also known as Puente Rio La Plata, it was the longest bridge constructed in Puerto Rico during the Spanish colonial period.

It crosses the Rio de la Plata, the longest river in Puerto Rico.

A Spanish government agent in Paris secured international bids, largely from French and Belgian firms, for bridges to be built in the overseas colonies of Spain.

[4]: E-10  The Arenas Bridge itself was fabricated by Nicaise et Delcuve, a Belgian firm, and was shipped on the steamship Teutonia to Puerto Rico for assembly.

However, there were no truly long spans in Puerto Rico that would have absolutely required a suspension bridge in colonial times, as there are no particularly wide rivers or canyons, and chief engineer Manuel Sanchez-Nunez assessed that suspension bridges were unsuited to the tropical climate, even removing, a few years later, one that had been constructed in Caguas in 1857.