Denis-Marcel Marié self-published a book about the bridge in 1953. It looked at all the previous publications. In the last chapter it supported the hypothesis that there was an earlier bridge built by the Gallo-Romans around the end of the Roman occupation. He said that the bases of the piers that were still there belonged to this earlier bridge. He also said that the semi-circular arches used during the Roman period meant that the level of the roadway would have been higher than the top of the surviving chapel. Marié supposed that this early bridge had collapsed over the following seven centuries. He said that the 12th century Bénézet bridge had a decking supported on wooden piles linking the ruined Roman piers. The piles were needed because the gaps between the Roman stone piers would have been too large to span with wooden beams without the support in between. The height of the Bénézet bridge would have been at the level of the lower chapel.