Work on the transporter bridge to replace a ferry that had become insufficient for traffic began in March 1898 and ended in July 1900, under the direction of Ferdinand Arnodin.

These beams forming part of the deck were replaced and modified and consolidation work was carried out by the company Fives-Lille-Cail.

However, the waiting times were becoming longer due to the increase in traffic on the road which crosses it with sometimes a 500m queue on either side of the structure.

Built in pre-stressed concrete and having 2 × 2 lanes, it was originally planned for the increase in road traffic, at toll for vehicles outside the Charente-Maritime department up to 1st January 2004.

The reopening to the public was announced for its 120th anniversary[2] From May to August 1966 the ferry served as the backdrop for the opening scene of Jacques Demy's film Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, where the fairground caravan may be seen crossing the Charente, and where the suspended gondola serves as a stage for a choreographic composition.

It also appears many times in the TV movie La boule noire (2014) by Denis Malleval, adapted from the novel by Georges Simenon.