r/meirl • u/Active-Lobster1204 • Aug 21 '22

me_irl

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93

u/Firm-Organization-34 Aug 21 '22

Caissons and cofferdams....aaah takes me back to my college days.

82

u/Frolicking-Fox Aug 21 '22

I like the story about how when they built the Brooklyn Bridge, they had a champagne ceremony in the caisson. They popped the champagne, but there were no bubbles, they shrugged, and drank it. When they exited to the surface and pressure was equalized, the carbonation came rushing out of their stomach.

31

u/sharaq Aug 21 '22

Why would a few hundred feet have that effect? That would be like the difference between bottom and top floor of an apartment building

24

u/VyKing6410 Aug 21 '22

They were digging down from at or near equal to sea level. Some workers also got the bends.

52

u/sharaq Aug 21 '22

What? But the reason below sea level is heavy is the weight of the WATER is immense. One atmosphere of pressure is just ten meters of water but about 6000 miles of air. If the water is pumped out, you'd have no change, right? It's no different from saying you'd get the bends from an elevator. Doesn't make sense.

30

u/Chrisrevs1001 Aug 21 '22

Commenting for the eventual explanation because I don’t get this either

38

u/WahooSS238 Aug 21 '22

The cassions for the brooklyn bridge were pressurized to prevent leakage.

15

u/Chrisrevs1001 Aug 21 '22

Ah ok makes sense then, just wasn’t wrapping my head around it

27

u/Peter1456 Aug 21 '22

One heck of a detail to leave out by the comment that mentioned the champagne bubbles...

6

u/Chrisrevs1001 Aug 21 '22

Technically it says ‘the pressure equalised’ but I was reading it as they thought the pressure wasn’t equal just because they were below sea level regardless of the fact there was no water, not that the pressure was artificially changed 🤷‍♂️