Why doesn't the wood on the Brooklyn Bridge rot or break?

Answer 1

While the construction materials of the Brooklyn Bridge include concrete,

mortar, stone, and steel, there would be no Brooklyn Bridge at all were

it not for its most crucial construction component: wood.

Southern Yellow Pine (from Georgia and Florida) forms the essential structural component of the underwater foundations of the bridge. Without those solid wood, pneumatic casings, the Brooklyn Bridge could never have been built, and those

solid yellow pine underwater caissons remain in nearly pristine today.

By the way, it is also underwater wood that holds up most of Venice.

"Wood decay is caused by aerobic insects and bacteria, ones that need air to stay alive. When wood is submerged where there is no air, it remains in good condition indefinitely. Cities like Venice in Italy are supported on wood pilings that are, in some cases, 1000 years old."