Larivot bridge: eight drone visits to the repair works
The Larivot bridge carries national road 1 over the Cayenne river, between Cayenne and Macouria. It is 1,225 m long with 35 spans and was built between 1974 and 1976. Freyssinet is carrying out its repair and maintenance on behalf of the DGTM, while the new bridge is being built alongside. Since October 2024 we have returned to the site at each major phase to film the works, from the air and on the ground.
Eleven visits matched to the phases of the works
The scope was set in April 2024 with the works manager. The list of phases to film, site base, marine equipment, dredging, installation of the pile sleeves, waterproofing of the pile heads, painting, concrete repairs, travelling gantries, application of a water-repellent treatment, was used to fix eleven visits, with interviews of the teams.
Each date follows the progress of the works: the February 2025 visit waited for the dredging machine to come back, and the one planned for October 2025 was postponed to late November to film the divers. The bridge lies within the control zone of Cayenne airport: each campaign requires clearance from air traffic control or the prefecture, and for the first one a call to the control tower before and after the flights.
Eight visits, October 2024 to July 2026
- 8 October 2024: first visit, video rushes for the edit.
- 20 February 2025: dredging, installation of the travelling gantries under the beams and a new jetty at the port; photos delivered the next day.
- 2 July 2025: anodes fitted by divers and work from the rolling and floating platforms.
- 26 November 2025: divers and platforms; photos delivered the next day.
- 24 February and 3 and 4 March 2026: three filming days for the convention film.
- 23 July 2026: eighth visit.
A film for the company’s convention
In February 2026 the company asked us for a four-to-five-minute film for its convention at the end of March. The script, written with the works manager, combined aerial views of the bridge and the site base, on-camera interviews, the pre-shift briefing, a safety talk and sequences of the crews heading to the site by boat.
On 24 February we shot the missing views of the works, then on 3 and 4 March, at the company’s offices and on site, the interviews and team scenes, grouped between 11 am and 2 pm to limit lost production time. The edit, with graphics and captions, was delivered as a first version on 13 March and as the final version on the 20th.
Until the end of the works
The ninth visit is scheduled for 29 October 2026. The following ones will also be used to record the interviews for the end-of-works film, which will draw on the footage gathered since 2024. For the same company we had already produced the film of the Sinnamary bridge works, delivered in February 2023 and in its final version in February 2024.
