Its flattened arches, slender piers and the hollow chamber system documented the progress made in late antique bridge building.

The bridge is located at Sultançayır, in the heart of the ancient region of Mysia, where it carried the road connecting Hadrianu Therai (Balıkesir) with Miletopolis across the Macestus.

[1] During an exploration tour in 1902, the German archaeologist Theodor Wiegand found the ancient structure still in an excellent state of preservation; only the fourth pier from the eastern bank had been blown up some thirty years before in what was a crude and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to render the river navigable for larger vessels.

Inside, hollow chambers were cut out to save material and reduce the weight resting on the arch vaults; these spaces are 4.40 m in width, 2.05 m in length, and are all arranged obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the bridge.

[4] Further materials mentioned by Wiegand include marble – probably for facing – and mortar,[1] which could have been used as a binder, or may refer to Roman concrete which often served to fill the interior of the spandrels and the piers.