- 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.
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.
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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.
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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.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.