The decision to create this bridge arose from the project for the Universal Exhibition of 1900.
The creation of a crossing over the Seine at this point was further justified as it was accompanied by the creation of the current avenue Winston Churchill ensuring a continuous route from Invalides to the Avenue Champs-Elysées.
It was decided to build a bridge comprising of one single arch with three articulations, flanked by viaducts in masonry on the two banks of the Seine.
The bridge is highly decorative.
At the four extremities rise monumental 17m-high pylons, crowned by gilded bronze Pegasus sculptures representing the renown of the Arts, the Sciences, Commerce and Industry; and at the base, groups in marble representing the France of Charlemagne, contemporary France of the Renaissance and the France of Louis XIV.
In the middle of the bridge, two compositions in hammered copper which upstream represent the nymphs of the Seine and downstream the nymphs of the Néva.
Thirty-two beautiful candelabras illuminate the whole. The first stone was symbolically laid by the Tsar Nicolas II of Russia, son of Alexander III. Finished in 1900, the bridge was inaugurated at the same time as the Universal Exhibition, by Emile Loubet.
Throughout its more than one hundred years of existence, the Pont Alexandre III has changed little except in its colour. Today, it is once again a pearl grey colour — its original colour.
The Pont Alexandre III is one of the most important artistic examples of its time.
For this reason, it is now a listed historical monument.