# One Pier of The brooklyn Bridge never Hit Bedrock: Has It Ever Shifted?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-pier-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-never-hit-bedrock-has-it-ever-shifted/593886>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 24, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-pier-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-never-hit-bedrock-has-it-ever-shifted/593886 "2011-08-24T12:47:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-pier-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-never-hit-bedrock-has-it-ever-shifted/593886/1 "2011-08-24T12:47:20Z")

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I recall that one of the piers of the Brooklyn Bridge (build ca. 1880) never was sunk to the bedrock-it would up getting so deep that the compressors of the day could not keep the water out.  
So Roebling made the decision to stop the excavation-which meant that the thousands of tons that the bridge weighs is sitting on sand and soil.  
Now, with modern laser levels, we could detect any settling or shifting of this pier-has any movement ever been detected?

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**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-pier-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-never-hit-bedrock-has-it-ever-shifted/593886/2 "2011-08-24T13:18:41Z")

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All buildings settle. So yes.

Foundations on sand or clay, even for large structures, isn’t really a big

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-pier-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-never-hit-bedrock-has-it-ever-shifted/593886/3 "2011-08-24T15:06:14Z")

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Wasn’t this addressed in [your last thread about the Brooklyn Bridge](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=580313)? See the discussion starting around #51.