[2] The bridge was designed by the architect Rudolf Jaussner and engineer Leopold Oerley, initially with an 80-meter (260 ft) stone arch, and built between 1904 and 1905.
Its central span was built by the Viennese construction company Brüder Redlich und Berger and the end viaducts were built by the Italian construction company Sard, Lenassi & Co, incorporated in Gorizia for this project by the Italian engineer Giovanni Battista Sard of Turin.
[3] In the spring of 1904 the builders had to change the project because of the light soil and increased the arch to 85 meters (279 ft).
On July 19, 1906, the Bohinj Railway (Slovene: Bohinjska proga, Italian: Transalpina, German: Wocheiner Bahn) from Jesenice to Gorizia was inaugurated (the Austrian heir Franz Ferdinand travelled across the bridge).
In August 1916, during the First World War, Austrian soldiers destroyed the bridge (using 930 kilograms or 2,050 pounds of Ecrasite) as they left Solkan to prevent the invading forces from using it.