Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge

Boston, MA (September 6, 2008)

The city administrators couldn’t agree on the name to give to the landmark bridge for the Boston Big Dig. The compromise was then to use the names of both the civil right activist Leonard P. Zakim (who was “building ecumenical bridges” across communities) and the battle of Bunker Hill that was fought nearby during the American Revolutionary War.

This is one of the first photos I took with my new D700. I was so eager to try the camera that went out despite the unpromising weather to explore the recently renovated Boston Harborwalk. Halfway through it, started to rain, so I ended up testing also the waterproofing of the camera (the camera is indeed waterproof and was unscathed while got soaked to my undies). At the end of the walk I went back towards North End, and turning around I saw this unexpected view of the bridge.

I was reading on Wikipedia that the bridge before its opening was proofed with a “Pachyderm test”: 14 elephants from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus crossed the bridge to show its stability. I wish they proofed also other parts of the big dig: soon after its opening one of the new tunnels collapsed causing the death of a woman that was transiting in her car.