The aims of this project were three in number: (1) to ease the traffic on the Pont d'Austerlitz, the most heavily trafficked bridge in the capital; (2) to connect the new Bibliothèque nationale de France (also known as the François Mitterrand Library) to the district of Bercy on the Right Bank of the Seine; and (3) to establish a direct link between the Gare de Lyon and the Gare d'Austerlitz.

At the conclusion of the competition, the concept set forth by Louis Arretche and Roman Karasinski was chosen for the bridge.

The rationale for this choice was that it did not detract from the aesthetic exterior of the Viaduc d'Austerlitz, a structure further downstream, and that it discreetly preserved the existing view of the river.

The bridge has a single steel deck measuring 270 m long and 35 m wide, and the shape of which resembles an aircraft wing.

Linking each pier to the deck are two conical steel frames shaped like upside-down tents.