Open Thread - Thurs 08 June 2023: Caissons!

Submitted by Sima on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 5:00am

Caissons!

Caissons, some roll, some sink, and more...

This is a bit of an exploration of a couple meanings of the word 'caisson'. Why? I dunno. It was a rabbit hole that I went down recently and learned some cool things!

A 1918 caisson for artillery and crew from: here.

The Tyne Bridge, from: here

The Word:
The word 'caisson' has a few meanings in the English language: according to Encyclopedia Britannica (1911 edition!) it means '(from the Fr. caisse, the variant form “cassoon” being adapted from the Ital. casone), a chest or case. When employed as a military term, it denotes an ammunition wagon or chest; in architecture it is the term used for a sunk panel or coffer in a ceiling, or in the soffit of an arch or a vault.'

There's a third meaning, in civil engineering, where the word refers to a type of under water, or near under water, construction. Here a caisson implies a huge box or enclosure of wood, iron or steel, which keeps water and watery sludge out of the foundation digging area using pressurization while the foundations of the construction are built. I had no idea about this third meaning until quite recently, I must admit.

The Song:
When I recently was reading about the construction of the Tyne Bridge (more on that below) the word caisson popped up, or maybe, more rightly, it dug down. Immediately it brought to mind, for me, the more military meaning of the word - an ammunition wagon or chest. For some reason 'When the caissons go rolling along' instantly became an earworm which still won't leave me. Especially the 'hi hi hee' part of the song.

The song was written in 1908 by First Lieutenant, and West Point Cadet, Edmund Gruber (related to Franz Gruber who wrote 'Silent Night'). Edmund Gruber (who eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General) was commissioned in the artillery corps and while serving in the Philippines he wrote the song, 'When the Caissons go Rolling Along'.

John Phillip Sousa made the song into a march in 1917 and it was renamed 'the US Field Artillery March'. In the 1956 the US Army adopted the march, and had new lyrics made for it, as its official song/march - 'The Army Goes Marching Along'.

I have never known the song/march by its official lyrics, but only by those from Edmund Gruber. Why, I don't know. And somehow I learned those lyrics so long ago that I cannot remember when, or how, it happened, but the march is an earworm which won't leave now!

The Construction:
I was reading a book (The Tyne Bridge - Icon of North-East England by Paul Brown) about the building and the history of one of the Tyne's bridges, and I encountered the civil engineering version of the word 'caisson' for, I think, the first time (for me). This was very confusing, as the military march immediately popped into my mind (and my earworm retainer). I had no idea what a caisson was in civil engineering, but the book explained it well (pgs 82-86) and I was left in complete awe and respect.

The book explains that using a huge pressurized steel box, called the caisson, was one of the solutions available and necessary when digging the foundations for large constructions near water; like on riverbanks or in riverbeds, along beaches, across inlets of the ocean and so on. There are famous bridges constructed using this method, including the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, and the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The caissons (boxes) used for making the Tyne Bridge foundations were upside down compared to a normal box (the top and sides were sealed steel, the bottom was left open for digging) and kept out the muddy riverside or seaside sludge or waters and made foundation digging possible. The top of the caisson was loaded with concrete which kept it sunk. More concrete was added over time to sink the caisson further as needed. The air inside the caisson was pressurized, so the workers could breathe. The pressurization also kept the water and sludge out of the caisson. Steel shafts and airlocks were used so the workers could enter the caisson, and the material they excavated could be taken up and out of the foundation. The workers dug down, with hand tools mostly, until they hit solid rock.

The caisson was used in bridge construction before the Tyne Bridge was built in the 1920s. In fact, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York was built (in the 1870s mainly) with wooden caissons used to make the foundations. It was hellish work, a 'disturbing and disorienting experience where "everything wore an unreal, weird, appearance": "what with the flaming lights, the deep shadows, the confusing noise of hammers, drills and chains, the half-naked forms flitting about, with here and there a Sisyphus figure rolling his stone, one might, if of a poetic temperament, get a realizing sense of Dante's inferno".' (pg 84 from Brown's book linked above).

While building the Tyne Bridge 20 men worked with pickaxes and shovels in each caisson to dig out the huge foundations needed. The caisson went down a long ways, topped with tons of concrete, at least four stories or more, until the men finally were able to dig into solid rock, not the muddy and soft earth of the riverbank. The work was hard, sweaty, dirty and dangerous. They worked 12 hour shifts! But at least with the Tyne Bridge the shifts were split up to counter decompression sickness (the bends), which could happen when leaving the caisson (five workers died from the bends while building the Brooklyn Bridge) and other problems.

All workers, no matter their job or circumstances, deserve support, encouragement and appreciation. Reading about these workers on the bridges in the late 1800s and early to mid 1900s really brought that home, once again, to me. I always admired the workers who did high rise work in many cities, without safety chains and so on. Now I have added admiration and awe for those who worked under the ground, under the water, to build such amazing bridges and other structures.

And maybe, some day soon, that song/march about the caissons rolling along will leave the earworm docket in my head!

So, thanks for reading about this rabbit hole dive and here's the open thread - and remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!

Tags:

Open Thread

#caisson

#bridges

#construction

#artillery

Vote

Comments

Submitted by Sima on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 5:27am

Good Day!

Hope Thursday is going well for everyone, not too warm, not too busy, some fun included!

Gonna be planting some beans, some mesclun, some beets, carrots, radishes... heh. Might start some seedlings in the greenhouse too; last of the brassicas for the summer, and so on. Other than that, it's shopping day!

What's up with everyone? How's it all going? Got any thoughts on recent events? How's about experiences with construction caissons?

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 6:59am

Good morning...

The caissons to build bridges caused the bends in some workers.

The Brooklyn bridge project employed 600 workers in 1873. The caissons were to a depth of 78.5 feet/23.8 m. These caissons were steam heated because it was thought that decompression sickness was due to extreme cold. Andrew Smith, an ENT surgeon, was the physician in charge. He described 110 cases of decompression sickness which he considered serious enough to warrant his attention (there were 119 cases in total). Fourteen of these died. He was the first to use the term “caisson disease”. He did not use recompression because he believed it to be a “heroic mode” of treatment. The chief engineer, Roebling, developed neurological decompression sickness (mainly spinal cord symptoms). He directed the project from his sickbed. He was not treated but made a slow spontaneous recovery. During this project, the colloquial term “the bends” was used. “Doing the bend” was used to describe the posture of the caisson workers who suffered from decompression sickness. These workers walked with a stoop resembling a posture known as the “Grecian bend” affected by fashionable women. “Doing the bend” was later changed to being bent or the bends. Some of the caisson workers wore bimetallic or “galvanic” bands either to prevent or relieve the symptoms of decompression sickness.

https://gue.com/blog/caisson-and-the-brooklyn-bridge/

Ken Burns has an excellent film about the Brooklyn Bridge...free on PBS passport if you're subscribed. Here's a freebee...(32 min)

An overview of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge done in a Ken Burns style.

On a personal note, my construction crew finally showed up yesterday and knocked out my soffit replacement. The project has been a monkey on my back for months, so it is a great relief to have the project done. Well, mostly done because I'll have to paint some flashing sometime this summer. Often life on the homestead seems to be two steps forward, one step back...slow but sure progress anyway.

Thanks for the OT!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 4:23am

Very glad to hear that the project is done!

@Lookout
Those kinds of projects really can become a monkey on the back. I'm glad you've gotten rid of that monkey!

The info on the bends you gave was really good. The book I am reading has a bit about the bends. It was just nuts to me that a construction worker can get the bends while digging in a pit to sink foundations for a bridge. In fact, these workers were some of the first people to be hurt by the bends... Nuts.

Thanks for the movie link, I am going to watch that now!

The caissons to build bridges caused the bends in some workers. The Brooklyn bridge project employed 600 workers in 1873. The caissons were to a depth of 78.5 feet/23.8 m. These caissons were steam heated because it was thought that decompression sickness was due to extreme cold. Andrew Smith, an ENT surgeon, was the physician in charge. He described 110 cases of decompression sickness which he considered serious enough to warrant his attention (there were 119 cases in total). Fourteen of these died. He was the first to use the term “caisson disease”. He did not use recompression because he believed it to be a “heroic mode” of treatment. The chief engineer, Roebling, developed neurological decompression sickness (mainly spinal cord symptoms). He directed the project from his sickbed. He was not treated but made a slow spontaneous recovery. During this project, the colloquial term “the bends” was used. “Doing the bend” was used to describe the posture of the caisson workers who suffered from decompression sickness. These workers walked with a stoop resembling a posture known as the “Grecian bend” affected by fashionable women. “Doing the bend” was later changed to being bent or the bends. Some of the caisson workers wore bimetallic or “galvanic” bands either to prevent or relieve the symptoms of decompression sickness. https://gue.com/blog/caisson-and-the-brooklyn-bridge/ Ken Burns has an excellent film about the Brooklyn Bridge...free on PBS passport if you're subscribed. Here's a freebee...(32 min) An overview of the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge done in a Ken Burns style. On a personal note, my construction crew finally showed up yesterday and knocked out my soffit replacement. The project has been a monkey on my back for months, so it is a great relief to have the project done. Well, mostly done because I'll have to paint some flashing sometime this summer. Often life on the homestead seems to be two steps forward, one step back...slow but sure progress anyway. Thanks for the OT!

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by QMS on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 7:54am

smoke on the water

speaking of bending bridges, this is the air quality at the GW bridge in NYC ..

https://twitter.com/i/status/1666530890665676809

and something mellow ..

she just doesn't see .. very far

cheers!

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 4:27am

The images coming from the east coast

@QMS
with all the smoke in the air, remind me very much, in a visceral way, of the smokey skies we've suffered here in the pacnw once in a while for the last 8 or so years. One year, in the fall, the smoke was so thick it made everything that orange/red/yellow hazy color, like New York has now. It was awful and so surreal. It was so weird seeing the golden pastures colored orange red because they were kind reflecting the colors of the sky.

And thanks for the great song!

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by usefewersyllables on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 9:54am

It was a case

of the bends (decompression sickness) that permanently ended my diving career. If you dive conservatively, and stay well within the published tables, you should be very safe. The small quantity of nitrogen bubbles that get offgassed into the bloodstream go into the lungs in the venous flow, are essentially filtered out there, and harmlessly diffuse out into the exhaled air- you never even notice that they existed.

However, a certain fraction of the population (about 30%) have a condition called "patent foramen ovale", where the atrial-ventricular hole that is always present in the fetal heart in utero fails to fully close after birth. In most people it is a tiny thing, but mine was pretty big (5mm or so)- so even diving conservatively, one fine day a nitrogen bubble passed from the ventricular side and entered the atrial flow, where it wedged up in my brain, and caused all manner of unpleasantness.

My symptoms almost fully resolved after a couple of long rides in a recompression chamber. But after consulting with a number of doctors with way too many letters after their names, I determined that I didn't like diving all *that* much, and retired from the sport. I could have had them install a device called a "basket" to plug the hole, but that seemed a little extreme to me- I use my heart for other things, after all. Now I just drive the boat for my wife.

The poor caisson workers had no chance in many cases, given the lack of medical knowledge at the time. I really feel for them. I'm sure that one hell of a lot more of them had lifelong neurological symptoms to go along with their skeletal woes- many, many more than were ever written about or tracked.

There was an upside, though. I have a patch about 2" by 2" on my right butt cheek that never recovered sensation. It makes a great place to get injections- can't feel 'em at all...

—

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 4:33am

Wow, your experience with the bends...

@usefewersyllables
was kinda scary just to read about. I never got into deep diving, just snorkeling, so I've never gotten the bends. I have to admit, I've always been frightened of getting them. I think that is because, although this has nothing to do with the bends, I nearly drowned when caught in a wave while swimming off the beach in San Diego when I was around 8. After that, I never really wanted to deep down into water, although I still love swimming.

At least you have the patch as a good result of the bends! Thanks for sharing your experiences, I always learn so much!

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by usefewersyllables on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 8:59am

I was just one

@Sima

of those statistical anomalies. My wife and I always dove very conservatively, and way within the published tables- we've never gone any deeper than the recreational limits, and always played by the rules (she's a scuba instructor instructor...). I even got my Nitrox certification after the hit, which let me dive with a low-nitrogen breathing mix (extra oxygen) using the 21% O2 air tables for additional safety. Still, more risk than I was willing to accept.

All the cool things to see are in the first 50-60 feet anyway, unless you're a determined wreck diver. But let's face it, once you've seen a few dozen wrecks, you've kinda seen them all. It was easy enough to call it a career.

Still, the initial entry and descent was always my absolute favorite. Drop in, get the gear in order, go negative on the bouyancy, and do a head-first Superman flight slowly down to the target depth, streamlined in the water column, expending minimum energy and using minimum air- not finning or flapping arms or doing anything but enjoying the weightlessness and listening to the bubbles and the sea life as I coasted down. Very Zen, very soulful, one at peace with the sea. That was always my favorite part of the dive- the rest was just swimming around looking at stuff.

Commercial and naval saturation divers have run into one other issue that begins to assert itself after many hundreds of continuous hours at increased pressure. Recreational divers should never experience this: this is definitely a pro-only hazard. These guys go to their working depth and stay there for days or weeks at a time, breathing mixed gas, until their bodies are in equilibrium with the high-pressure gases- thus, saturation. But even so, most mixes still have a little nitrogen in them, and that goes into solution in the tissues, up to the point of saturation. The problem is that the tissue that takes the longest to saturate with N2 (or CO2, or any other gas) is also the one that takes the longest to let it go: and that is bone marrow. There are now a number of cases of bone marrow necrosis from that, even when all the decompression protoocols were followed to the letter. This is because if you pitch a bubble in the bone marrow, there's simply nowhere for it to *go*. So the blood circulation gets upgefukt within the bone for long periods of time... And it is largely asymptomatic, so by the time it gets detected, the damage is long since done.

Don't you just hate statistics? Recreational diving was a lot of fun for a couple decades, though...

—

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 6:10pm

statistics can SUCK

@usefewersyllables
But your knowledge and experience is priceless and totally not sucky. I did not know that about the gas bubbles going into bone marrow. That's... nuts. I wonder, do astronauts get this kind of thing too?

Your description of floating down to your diving depth, just zen-ing, rocks. I think that's why I'd do that kind of diving, if I ever did.

#4.1 of those statistical anomalies. My wife and I always dove very conservatively, and way within the published tables- we've never gone any deeper than the recreational limits, and always played by the rules (she's a scuba instructor instructor...). I even got my Nitrox certification after the hit, which let me dive with a low-nitrogen breathing mix (extra oxygen) using the 21% O2 air tables for additional safety. Still, more risk than I was willing to accept. All the cool things to see are in the first 50-60 feet anyway, unless you're a determined wreck diver. But let's face it, once you've seen a few dozen wrecks, you've kinda seen them all. It was easy enough to call it a career. Still, the initial entry and descent was always my absolute favorite. Drop in, get the gear in order, go negative on the bouyancy, and do a head-first Superman flight slowly down to the target depth, streamlined in the water column, expending minimum energy and using minimum air- not finning or flapping arms or doing anything but enjoying the weightlessness and listening to the bubbles and the sea life as I coasted down. Very Zen, very soulful, one at peace with the sea. That was always my favorite part of the dive- the rest was just swimming around looking at stuff. Commercial and naval saturation divers have run into one other issue that begins to assert itself after many hundreds of continuous hours at increased pressure. Recreational divers should never experience this: this is definitely a pro-only hazard. These guys go to their working depth and stay there for days or weeks at a time, breathing mixed gas, until their bodies are in equilibrium with the high-pressure gases- thus, saturation. But even so, most mixes still have a little nitrogen in them, and that goes into solution in the tissues, up to the point of saturation. The problem is that the tissue that takes the longest to saturate with N2 (or CO2, or any other gas) is also the one that takes the longest to let it go: and that is bone marrow. There are now a number of cases of bone marrow necrosis from that, even when all the decompression protoocols were followed to the letter. This is because if you pitch a bubble in the bone marrow, there's simply nowhere for it to *go*. So the blood circulation gets upgefukt within the bone for long periods of time... And it is largely asymptomatic, so by the time it gets detected, the damage is long since done. Don't you just hate statistics? Recreational diving was a lot of fun for a couple decades, though...

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 9:57am

Happy Thors Day, wa-pow!

Wa-pow! is the sound of a hammer on my own fine nail head. Every day a new day, my little kitchen might not like coffee? Last Thorsday when my nurse was visiting, the container which held the fresh grounds went flying out of my hand on to the floor wa-pow! Glass everywhere and the precious grinds went in to the trash.

This morning I managed to bump my pour-over rig right after the pouring-over moment, wa-pow! Boiling water and hot coffee grounds all over me, the stove, cabinets, wall, and floor. After cleaning I made another cup and it is fine, all better now. A new word mashup popped inside my head yesterday, it is canna-sheen, and it is mm mm good. It happens to a fresh hot cuppa good stuff when I add a tiny bit of cannabis butter to it. Yay!
---
Thank you for hosting T'days OT Sima, you got me digging for this (and cursing that earworm, gah!):

https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/working-under-water/

Divers worked in water that was dark, murky and cold, and only when the tide changed and the usually strong currents lessened, which occurred four times in a day. Portable air tanks for diving had not yet been invented. A diver’s life depended on the continuous pumping of air through a long hose to the surface.

The link above has many more links (PBS again), and I will be jumping off from there and diving in as the days goes by. Looking back and thinking forward I wonder what else has not yet been invented. Thanks!
---
This next article from 2017 has more about the design of the GG bridge, and the cost, and the politics, and the bla bla bla, etc.:
https://www.structuremag.org/?p=11113

...
This series of articles on suspension bridges started with James Finley’s chain bridge built in 1809 over the Schuylkill Falls, with spans of 153 feet carrying wagons and carriages. It is completed with the Golden Gate Bridge, with its 4,200 feet carrying automobiles, trucks, etc. The longest span suspension bridge is now the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan, with a main span of 6,532 feet that opened in 1998. Other suspension bridges have been proposed with spans projected upwards of 10,000 feet. John A. Roebling and Charles Ellet, Jr., the founders of the wire cable bridge in the United States, both had written that bridges with spans of up to 5,000 feet using wrought iron wires were possible. Those two engineers would, without a doubt, be impressed with how far their vision was carried out, not only in the United States but lately in Japan, China, and Denmark.

right on
Speaking of earworms, here's another from my youth:
---
Van Halen - Jump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM

Peace and Love

Submitted by QMS on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 12:03pm

wa-pow indeed

@eyo

those coffee grounds get everywhere, once spilled and wet, I think they breed in the
darkness. Have been cleaning up an overflowed filter basket for a week now ..

Like the idea of a canna-sheen. Good to the last drop!

When in Singapore building boats, the Malaysian kid found me on board and
explained very vividly NOCANNA NOCANNA TRABLIFF TRABLIFF!!!
What he was trying to express, in his best English impersonation, the crew
was ordered to not work on the boat that day as the
sling tractor was coming to pick it up and dunk it in the river for sea trials.
It is called a Travel Lift, but yeah, I got it. I was the one there to drive the boat
once she had her virgin dip.

I think that started with your canna ..

Wa-pow! is the sound of a hammer on my own fine nail head. Every day a new day, my little kitchen might not like coffee? Last Thorsday when my nurse was visiting, the container which held the fresh grounds went flying out of my hand on to the floor wa-pow! Glass everywhere and the precious grinds went in to the trash. This morning I managed to bump my pour-over rig right after the pouring-over moment, wa-pow! Boiling water and hot coffee grounds all over me, the stove, cabinets, wall, and floor. After cleaning I made another cup and it is fine, all better now. A new word mashup popped inside my head yesterday, it is canna-sheen, and it is mm mm good. It happens to a fresh hot cuppa good stuff when I add a tiny bit of cannabis butter to it. Yay! --- Thank you for hosting T'days OT Sima, you got me digging for this (and cursing that earworm, gah!): https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/working-under-water/ Divers worked in water that was dark, murky and cold, and only when the tide changed and the usually strong currents lessened, which occurred four times in a day. Portable air tanks for diving had not yet been invented. A diver’s life depended on the continuous pumping of air through a long hose to the surface. The link above has many more links (PBS again), and I will be jumping off from there and diving in as the days goes by. Looking back and thinking forward I wonder what else has not yet been invented. Thanks! --- This next article from 2017 has more about the design of the GG bridge, and the cost, and the politics, and the bla bla bla, etc.: https://www.structuremag.org/?p=11113 ... This series of articles on suspension bridges started with James Finley’s chain bridge built in 1809 over the Schuylkill Falls, with spans of 153 feet carrying wagons and carriages. It is completed with the Golden Gate Bridge, with its 4,200 feet carrying automobiles, trucks, etc. The longest span suspension bridge is now the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan, with a main span of 6,532 feet that opened in 1998. Other suspension bridges have been proposed with spans projected upwards of 10,000 feet. John A. Roebling and Charles Ellet, Jr., the founders of the wire cable bridge in the United States, both had written that bridges with spans of up to 5,000 feet using wrought iron wires were possible. Those two engineers would, without a doubt, be impressed with how far their vision was carried out, not only in the United States but lately in Japan, China, and Denmark. right on Speaking of earworms, here's another from my youth: --- Van Halen - Jump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM Peace and Love

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 4:48am

Oh my, boiling water and hot coffee grounds...

@eyo
over you? I hope they didn't burn you! Ouch! Wa-pow indeed. Canna-sheen is cool, I kinda like it :).

Sorry for the earworm, maybe we can find some other song to earworm to I am really glad about inspiring you to a deep dive into this though, those links have taught me a lot about the Golden Gate. I used to drive over it about once or twice a month, never thought about what was involved in building it! Yeesh.

Have a good one, and stop with the wa-pow and drink more canna-sheen! Or something like that!

Wa-pow! is the sound of a hammer on my own fine nail head. Every day a new day, my little kitchen might not like coffee? Last Thorsday when my nurse was visiting, the container which held the fresh grounds went flying out of my hand on to the floor wa-pow! Glass everywhere and the precious grinds went in to the trash. This morning I managed to bump my pour-over rig right after the pouring-over moment, wa-pow! Boiling water and hot coffee grounds all over me, the stove, cabinets, wall, and floor. After cleaning I made another cup and it is fine, all better now. A new word mashup popped inside my head yesterday, it is canna-sheen, and it is mm mm good. It happens to a fresh hot cuppa good stuff when I add a tiny bit of cannabis butter to it. Yay! --- Thank you for hosting T'days OT Sima, you got me digging for this (and cursing that earworm, gah!): https://www.goldengate.org/exhibits/working-under-water/ Divers worked in water that was dark, murky and cold, and only when the tide changed and the usually strong currents lessened, which occurred four times in a day. Portable air tanks for diving had not yet been invented. A diver’s life depended on the continuous pumping of air through a long hose to the surface. The link above has many more links (PBS again), and I will be jumping off from there and diving in as the days goes by. Looking back and thinking forward I wonder what else has not yet been invented. Thanks! --- This next article from 2017 has more about the design of the GG bridge, and the cost, and the politics, and the bla bla bla, etc.: https://www.structuremag.org/?p=11113 ... This series of articles on suspension bridges started with James Finley’s chain bridge built in 1809 over the Schuylkill Falls, with spans of 153 feet carrying wagons and carriages. It is completed with the Golden Gate Bridge, with its 4,200 feet carrying automobiles, trucks, etc. The longest span suspension bridge is now the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan, with a main span of 6,532 feet that opened in 1998. Other suspension bridges have been proposed with spans projected upwards of 10,000 feet. John A. Roebling and Charles Ellet, Jr., the founders of the wire cable bridge in the United States, both had written that bridges with spans of up to 5,000 feet using wrought iron wires were possible. Those two engineers would, without a doubt, be impressed with how far their vision was carried out, not only in the United States but lately in Japan, China, and Denmark. right on Speaking of earworms, here's another from my youth: --- Van Halen - Jump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM Peace and Love

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by humphrey on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 12:26pm

Nothing to see here!

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 4:53am

Gah, I remember those days in 2020

@humphrey
The smoke, the haze, the colors of everything were insane here in the PacNW. I'm sorry the east coast is suffering it now. It's so hard to breath, and it smells, and makes one cough and one's throat gets full of junk. Bleh. Maybe masks help, I dunno. I haven't worn one yet during the smokey days here. Hope you are doing well, and thanks for the info about the smoke and the fires!

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by randtntx on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 1:26pm

Thanks for the deep dive

on caissons. It's an interesting subject. I join you in respecting the people who do this work of digging into the earth to construct those bridges. So much work, so much danger. If we lived in a meritocracy that was based on skill and actual work, those laborers should have been very well compensated.

I've been reading about the wildfires in Canada and looking at pictures of the smoke in N.E. US.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/08/misv-j08.html
As humphrey points out above, this a terrible smoke event. On NC there is a link to a tweet thread that points out how dangerous the air quality is, and has tips on how to protect one's lungs.
https://twitter.com/healthyheating/status/1666188645227954176?ref_src=tw...

Below is a link on culture/art/books?, for a small breather/interlude. Hurray for the internet, I would never have seen this otherwise.
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/04/emma-taylor-book-sculptures/

Thanks for the OT. Happy gardening today.

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 5:00am

That link to the advice

@randtntx
on how to deal with the smoke was good. When we've had the smoke come from Canada and Siberia! here, or circle up from the fires in California and Oregon, we've done a lot of what was suggested in that list. Good advice! The big thing here was giving everyone, including the animals, places to keep cool and sheltered. And hope and pray for a good stiff sea breeze to flush the air out!

I loved the sculptures from old books. That was super! Thanks! And thanks for stopping by and reading about caissons!

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so

Submitted by on the cusp on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 7:40pm

I never knew of a definition beyond war caissons.

The workers going down into the waters to build bridge foundations were either brave beyond belief, or just nuts. Too bad they didn't become rich for their efforts.
It stormed here, as it did in Houston. Lots of folks without power. Ours was off at home for about 3 1/2 hours. We almost gathered up groceries to head to the office where I have a full kitchen, and am on the top priority grid in the county. Can always cook there, can always enjoy a/c or heat, depending on the season. Just before we got hungry enough to do it, the lights came back on.
We are expecting this stormy weather for two more days. Good grief.
Happy gardening, sima!
Thanks for the open thread.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by Sima on Fri, 06/09/2023 - 5:05am

Loss of power sucks!

@on the cusp
We haven't lost power in, well, since winter. Once though, we lost it for about 2 weeks! That was after a huge windstorm in the early 1990s (the inaugural day storm, it's called here) which blew out a bunch of the grid in what was, then, my somewhat isolated area. The infrastructure was so old, they had to get replacement parts for it from Russia! That's why the power was out so long. They've improved everything now, so the power doesn't go out like that anymore... so far. Heh.

I'm glad you got your power back before you left home to go make food at the office! Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by and learning a bit about caissons. And I hope the earworm has spared you

—

If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so