It was built between 1920 and 1922 by engineer Vincenzo Douglas Scotti, descendant of an old Scottish family and director of the Mammiano Basso rolling-mill of the Società Metallurgica Italiana (SMI, today Europa Metalli) of Campo Tizzoro. The work aroused considerable admiration for its engineering technology, and the designer received congratulations even from abroad. The bridge has steel cables anchored to concrete bases by means of massive chains, and iron planks with metal grids. Measuring some 35 metres at its highest point and 212.4 metres in length, it is one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges in the world.

The motives which led to its construction are tied to the affairs of the iron industry. It indeed afforded the workers of Popiglio a shortcut to reach the ironworks in the opposite valley, also avoiding them having to cross the stream. Today, it is a popular tourist destination for its considerable height over the stream, its slight oscillations and the iron grid walkway, just short of a metre wide, which gives the impression of "being suspended over the abyss".