The specialist machinery was designed by Aymeric Zublena, one of the architects of the Stade de France, and Michel Virlogeux, designer of the Pont de Normandie Bridge and the Millau Viaduct.

It was won by Quille, a subsidiary of Bouygues, in association with the Eiffel company, Eiffage and the Belgian firm Victor Buyck.

The essential requirement was to construct a Seine river crossing which allowed large vessels access to the Port of Rouen, upstream.

These various unsatisfactory solutions led the client to consider the fact that large ships only needed access beyond the bridge 20 to 30 times a year, so that three kinds of moveable bridge were considered: All these potential solutions have their advantages and disadvantages.

The air draft (clearance) is 7 m (23 ft) when the deck is down, which still allows the passage of barges and smaller craft.

[1] The dual decks, each of which is 120 m (390 ft) long and weighs 1,300 tonnes (1,300 long tons; 1,400 short tons),[1] is supported by four pylons (arranged in pairs) piled into the Seine riverbed.

It takes twelve minutes fully to raise or lower the lift section.

The lift section is expected to open around 30 times a year, in particular for the Rouen Armarda and for cruise ships who dock in the city centre (near the William the Conqueror Bridge).