The building of the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1870s played a significant role in recognizing decompression sickness among the bridge-building caisson workers. Pressurized air keeps the water out of these large enclosed spaces that are sunk in the lake or river. Men work inside of these when they are excavating foundations for bridges.
It was observed that the longer the workers were exposed to this increased air pressure, combined with their ascent speed, they developed a substantial amount of joint pain which was called the bends.
The term bends was given because of the stooped or bent over posture that the workers walked with from being in pain. They looked like fashion women, the Grecian Bend, who wore full length skirts with their bustles and walked bent over. The workers of the Brooklyn Bridge project visibly portrayed decompression sickness.