The 196 m (643 ft) wide structure, the largest of its kind in antiquity,[1] was designed during Hadrian's reign (AD 117–138) in order to form a passageway underneath a large court in front of the monumental "Red Basilica" temple complex.

The two intact tubes, which consist of supporting walls covered with barrel vaults, still serve their purpose to this day.

[2] For urban development, such substructions are regarded as particularly useful for providing large open spaces in densely populated inner city areas.

[2] The bridge substruction features two parallel and linear barrel vaults which are separated by a continuously running partition wall.

Considering that the Selinus is 13.4 km (8.3 mi) long, with a median gradient of 2.2% and a drainage basin of 101 km2 (39 sq mi), the following median intervals were calculated, depending on the method employed: The study came to the conclusion that statistically every 700 years, a value which has been referred to as the "arithmetic mean", floods are to be expected which would exceed the capacity of the bridge.