After the introduction of a ferry that could transport 150 passengers, Louis Faidherbe quickly saw that the system was clearly overrun and decided to construct the first bridge over the Sénégal River.

The governor of Senegal, Henri de Lamothe decided to take a loan worth five million gold francs to construct a new metallic bridge in Saint-Louis.

The city of Saint-Louis, the first capital of the French West Africa, is situated on an island near the estuary of the Sénégal River.

[2] It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a thin 40 kilometres (25 mi) strip of sand called the Langue de Barbarie, which starts from Nouadhibou in Mauritania and extends all the way to Saint-Louis.

In 1858, Louis Faidherbe, the governor of Senegal, inaugurated the Bouteville boat that was capable of transporting 150 passengers, animals and all kinds of goods.

[4] Seeing this, the frigate captain Robin, friend of Louis Faidherbe, asked Prince Jérôme Napoléon, Minister of Algeria and the African Colonies, for approval for construction of a floating bridge.

[5] In the opening of his speech in the General Council of Senegal, governor Henri de Lamothe [fr] proposed that the country should take a loan for infrastructure development.

The council agreed on a loan worth five million gold francs, much of the money being for the construction of a metallic bridge between Saint-Louis and Sor.

On the other hand, the president of the public works in Senegal and councilman Jean-Jacques Crespin supported the Nouguier, Kessler et Cie project.

[5] The information available in Romania for the King Carol I Bridge in Cernavodă, as well as the results of scientists in France, say that the myths are pure fiction.

On the other hand, in Austria-Hungary there was no need to construct a low bridge like the Faidherbe because of the trade routes on the Danube River.

[8] The ribbon for the access zone was cut by the governor's wife, then the officials walked a short distance to the mobile deck, which was opened to allow the passage of the military ship L'Ardent.