[2] The bridge was completed in 105 AD and designed by Emperor Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus before the Second Dacian War to allow Roman troops to cross the river.

Construction of the bridge was part of a wider project, which included the digging of side canals so that whitewater rapids could be avoided to make the Danube safer for navigation enabling an effective river fleet, a string of defense posts and development of the intelligence service on the border.

The effect of finally defeating the Dacians and acquiring their gold mines was so great that Roman games celebrating the conquest lasted for 123 days, with 10,000 gladiators engaging in fights and 11,000 wild animals being killed during that period.

A bronze head of Emperor Trajan has been discovered in Pontes, part of a statue which was erected at the bridge entrance and is today kept in the National Museum in Belgrade.

[7] Apollodorus used wooden arches, each spanning 38 m (125 ft), set on twenty masonry pillars made of bricks, mortar, and pozzolana cement.

The water was redirected 2 km (1.2 mi) downstream from the construction site, through the lowland of Ključ region [sr], to the location of the modern village of Mala Vrbica.

Thus, it is known that work was done by the legions of IV Flavia Felix, VII Claudia, V Macedonica and XIII Gemina and the cohorts of I Cretum, II Hispanorum, III Brittonum and I Antiochensium.

In 1972, when the Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station was built (causing the water level to rise by about 35 m), the plaque was moved from its original location, and lifted to the present place.

It reads: The text was interpreted by Otto Benndorf to mean: The Tabula Traiana was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and is protected by the Republic of Serbia.

When the plan for the future hydro plant and its reservoir was made in 1965, it was clear that numerous settlements along the banks would be flooded in both Yugoslavia and Romania, and that historical remains, including the plaque, would also be affected.

[11] The wooden superstructure of the bridge was dismantled by Trajan's successor, Hadrian, presumably in order to protect the empire from barbarian invasions from the north.