The History of Pneumatic Case on Disease

In the 19th century, workers were using pneumatic cases on to build bridges across rivers. The pressure inside was equivalent to that of the water at the bottom right. Workers would go in and work for 12 hours or whatever hell the shift was back then. Then they would leave the case on and it wasn't even like an airlock. It's just like you sort of, you went out and there was a rapid pressure change. And then folks started having problems. This has been happening for centuries but not empirically studied until the construction of the Eames Bridge in St. Louis.