English: The image shows the original Lower Ticino Bridge on the southern access ramp to the Gotthard Rail Tunnel with Giornico in the background and a steam locomotive with two flatcars passing the bridge. The picture was taken before 1878 with commercial operation of this central part of the Gotthardbahn only starting in June of 1882 and the ramps and the Gotthardtunnel still under construction.

The bridge shows the single beam truss construction that was typical for the majority of the original bridges on this line, and which with increasing traffic loads had to be fortified with supporting fishbellies or arches until they eventually had to be replaced with reinforced concrete or other bridges. The routes from Giornico to the neighboring stations of Lavorgo and Bodio exhibit the steepest inclines of the Gotthardbahn of up to 27‰.

The original is a photograph by Adolphe Braun published in a probably small edition book "Photographische Ansichten der Gotthardbahn" (58 photographs (28x23 cm2) mounted on each single page plus one two-page panorama), published around 1875 or shortly thereafter. The exact date of publication is not clear. The original in the book was photographed at an angle and the resulting image was clipped to show central detail and to reestablish a rectangular frame. The resulting image is somewhat distorted with respect to the original photograph by Adolphe Braun and very much reduced in resolution. The German caption of the photo in the book reads "Untere Tessinbrücke mit Giornico" (Lower Ticino Bridge with Giornico).