Boston Bridge Dedication Included Springsteen and 14 Elephants

Tune in to a Boston Bruins or Celtics home game, and there's a good chance the television cameras will pan the exterior of the TD Garden and the nearby Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, known locally as the "Zakim" or the "Bunker Hill Bridge."

The bridge opened in 2002 to replace the Charlestown High Bridge, built in the 1950s.

The 10-lane Zakim crosses the Charles River, connecting Boston and Charlestown. Only in Massachusetts says the bridge "is considered to be one of the widest cable-stayed bridges in the world."

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The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge was built as part of the Big Dig, the largest highway construction project in the United States.

Only in Massachusetts says the bridge "was named in honor of both Leonard P. Zakim, a Civil Rights activist, as well as those who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill."

The new bridge was dedicated during ceremonies on October 4, 2002, and included former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift, former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and Zakim's widow Joyce Zakim. Bruce Springsteen, a friend of Zakim's, performed his song "Thunder Road."

They were not the only celebrities paying tribute to the Zakim. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were in Boston when the new bridge was being dedicated.

Only in Massachusetts reports, "On October 14, 2002, 14 of the circus elephants walked across the Zakim and proved that it could safely hold up to 112,000 pounds."

Songwaves says, "The Boston elephant march resembled tests of the 1800s when bridge engineering was more questionable. Elephants were used to demonstrate the sturdiness of the Eads Bridge in 1874 and the Brooklyn Bridge in 1884."

The site says, "According to folklore, elephants are used for such shows of strength because they are widely believed to have uncanny instincts and will not cross unsafe structures."