Begun in 1544 and completed in 1632, its construction was made particularly long and difficult by the violent floods of the Garonne and the unstable nature of the subsoil.

The architect Jacques Lemercier, who carried out the work at the beginning of the 17th century, made it an innovative bridge for its time.

Envisaged by the capitouls (the consuls at the head of the city) at the end of the 15th century, the decision to build a large bridge over the Garonne in Toulouse was pushed by King Francis I, who saw a strategic interest in it in the face of the then threatening Spain of Charles V.[3] The Pont Neuf in Toulouse is considered a masterpiece of the Renaissance and early 17th century.

Moreover, Lemercier made a synthesis between bridges of Roman antiquity, for the use of superimposed spouts intended to spread the current and for the openings on the piers, and works of the Italian Renaissance such as the Ponte Sisto of Rome for its oculi or the Ponte Santa Trinita of Florence for its lowered arches allowing to moderate the difference in level.

[1] The bridge was finished and put into service in 1632, and was inaugurated on 19 October 1659 by king Louis XIV.