Cast iron waste line in bath floor with cut floor joists

We are accustomed to seeing framing notched, drilled, and otherwise modified by plumbers trying to fit their pipes into houses built before indoor plumbing was de rigueur.  This bathroom floor is a bit extreme, though, as the floor joists are almost entirely cut away, and the cast iron waste pipes seem to be providing the only remaining structure.  And the cast iron wasn’t in great shape either:

 

Large hole in cast iron waste pipe

 

By some miracle of gravity and hydrodynamics, the space below the hole was not filled with sewage.

 

I should add that our plumber, Leo Tuccinardi, of Pipe Connections in Watertown, MA, has the utmost respect for wood framing and its role in keeping buildings upright.