[2] He commissioned the wire-cable suspension design from Spanish-Basque engineer Matias Menchacatorre.

It was also opened for pedestrians travelling on foot between Quiapo and Intramuros and nearby areas.

A Basque Spaniard born in Cadiz, de Ynchausti migrated to the Philippines in the second quarter of the nineteenth century and built a business empire.

[4] The 20th-century Filipino writer Nick Joaquin described the bridge as it was in the 1870s: "Across the city’s river now arched … the amazing Puente Colgante, suspended in the air, like a salute to the age of science and engineering.

The Industrial Age found its expression in the Philippines in the form of a bridge unparalleled throughout Asia.