The Golden Gate Bridge Is Making Weird Noises, Engineers Devise A Plan To Fix It [Watch]

The Golden Gate Bridge in California is making some weird howling sounds as cars drive through it. The spooky noises are becoming a nuisance for both the residents in the area and the cars passing through the bridge. Taking the issue seriously, engineers have come up with an ingenious plan to fix it.

The famous landmark is emanating creepy sounds whenever the wind picks up. A sampling of the strange noises was posted by Twitter user @psychunseen. The video was taken from inside a car, which is a testament to the intensity of the sounds. The volume of the noises was high enough to be heard clearly from inside the car.

The Twitter user wrote in the post that the sounds were even louder and more disconcerting than what can be heard in the video.

The source of the issue has been pointed out to be a retrofit of the bridge that was installed in 2020. The new west sidewalk bridge railing was part of the Bridge Wind Retrofit project. It aimed at securing the structural integrity of the bridge during high wind speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. The whistling sounds were an unintended consequence of the project, as per IFLScience.

The Golden Gate Bridge District has come up with a proposal to fix the sound issue.

"After extensive analysis and testing, the District has developed a cost-effective measure that will eliminate many of the wind-induced sounds altogether and make most remaining sounds inaudible," the District said in a statement.

The installation of thin, u-shaped clips attached to both edges of all 12,000 vertical slats on the newly installed west railing was proposed as a solution. The u-shaped clips were able to reduce the sounds by 75% during analysis.

The u-shaped clips disrupt the airflow as it moves through each slat, restricting small vibrations in the air. The sounds that are being heard on the bridge are due to these vibrations when they "match the natural structural vibrations of the slats or of the air between the slats, which are then propagated in sound waves, similar to a cone speaker."

"The proposed solution will be invisible to most Bridge users and, importantly, will not affect the Bridge's structural stability during sustained high winds. Installation is expected to be complete in the first half of 2023," the statement read.

The clips will be painted in the Golden Gate Bridge's famous international orange color. Also, the project will not be inexpensive. The fabrication of the clips and rubber inserts for the 12,000 slats is estimated to cost $450,000. The bridge operating budget will foot the bill for the whole operation. And the bridge staff will install the clips and inserts as part of their regular maintenance activities.