[3] The bridge is constructed as a simple, unadorned, single arch on two rocks at the narrowest point of the creek.

At 34.2 m (112 ft) clear span, the structure is quite possibly the second largest extant Roman arch bridge.

[4] The bridge was rebuilt by the Legio XVI Gallica, garrisoned in the ancient city of Samosata (today Samsat) to begin a war with Parthia.

Commagenean cities built four Corinthian columns on the bridge, in honor of the Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus (193–211), his second wife Julia Domna, and their sons Caracalla and Publius Septimius Geta as stated on the inscription in Latin on the bridge.

The Severan Bridge is situated within one of the most important national parks in Turkey, which contains Nemrut Dağı with the famous remains of Commagene civilization on top, declared as World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.