Why the Golden Gate Bridge Sounds Like It’s Screaming Bloody Murder Right Now
A 2020 Golden Gate Bridge retrofit added a loud noise when high winds pass through a new railing.
After intensive testing, engineers discovered the cause of the wind-led noise and developed a fix.
The repair is scheduled for 2023, so expect the screeching bridge to continue a little longer.
Right now, the Golden Gate Bridge is screaming at everyone in San Francisco. Ever since a retrofit of the bridge’s railings in 2020, the bridge emits a shrill screeching sound during storms.
It’s much louder and more disconcerting than in the video, but this whistling noise is what the Golden Gate Bridge sounds like in the rain and wind.#BombCyclone #AtmosphericRiver #bayareastorm pic.twitter.com/9dC0pYbtwk
— Joe Pierre, MD (@psychunseen) January 5, 2023
The bridge, which opened in 1937, needed some fixing a few years ago to ensure “structural integrity of the bridge is not jeopardized during high winds,” according to the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. That included a new west sidewalk bridge railing that came with thinner slats than before.
It turns out that new thinner design creates a pair of tones when wind passes through them from the west. With wind speeds at 22 miles per hour or more, you can expect a low-pitched, low-frequency tone—between 280 and 700 hertz—often heard more as you get farther from the bridge. There’s also a higher-pitched frequency present when the wind passes through the new railing at a slight angle with at least 27 mph.
As you might expect, Bay Area residents don’t love what they’re hearing.
SOUND UP 🔊: The Golden Gate Bridge can be heard "singing" this morning with the high winds that are reaching over 40 mph at times. 🌉 Here's where the noise comes from: https://t.co/XVXtY503a5 pic.twitter.com/8sKHvx0pcx
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 10, 2023
With complaints about the noises streaming in by summer 2020, engineers went to wind tunnels to analyze the issue. And they think they found a fix, saying they believe they have “developed a cost-effective measure that will eliminate many of the wind-induced sounds altogether and make most remaining sounds inaudible.”
To get there, they crafted u-shaped clips with a thin rubber insert. Attaching to both edges of all 12,000 vertical slats on the newly installed west railing, the 1/8-inch-thick clips will cover the edge of every slat from top to bottom and include a thin rubber sleeve underneath to dampen vibrations that contribute to the sounds. And it only costs $450,000.
The district says it expects installation during the first half of 2023. Until then, the Golden Gate Bridge will continue to play its tune.
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