caisson foundation
Isaac Kremer/ September 9, 2018/ / 0 comments
From French, caisse, “box.” A technique for constructing deep foundations in loose, saturated soils, developed in the United States, 1865-90. An open-bottom air-tight chamber is lowered into the soil and the earth is excavated from beneath it by workmen called “sand hogs.” As the chamber descends, the air pressure inside the chamber is increased to match the water pressure outside; meanwhile the hole left above is lined or filled with stones or concrete. When dense soils or solid rock is reached, the chamber is filled with concrete. (Roth, 1993)
