Pachyderm Test
On October 14, 2002, elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus crossed the new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge to demonstrate the bridge's structural integrity. The 14 elephants proved that the bridge supports 112,000 pounds. 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. 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.
Read more about this topic: Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge
Famous quotes containing the word test:
“We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value—a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)