Caisson - Definition and Overview

A caisson is:

• In engineering, a retaining structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier. These are constructed so that the water can be pumped out so the working environment is dry. Shallow caissons may be open to the air, while deep caissons to penetrate soft mud may be sealed at the top and filled with compressed air to keep water and mud out at depth.
• A carrier of artillery ammunition. The song "The Caissons Go Rolling Along", written during the occupation of the Philippines by the United States of America refers to these; the version adopted as the United States Army's official song has, among other changes, replaced the word caissons with Army.
• A two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage used to hold and transport the coffin during a military funeral.
  • Horse-drawn Caisson image 1 (http://www.buggy.com/Images/caissoninuse.jpg)
    
  • Horse-drawn Caisson image 2 (http://www.butlersheriff.org/images/caisson.jpg)
• The water-tank wagon used on canal inclined planes

Caisson disease is so named since it appeared in construction workers when they left the caisson and had rapid decompression. It is caused by the same processes as Decompression sickness in divers. The Brooklyn Bridge was constructed with the help of caissons, and several workers died of caisson sickness.

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