SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Engineers are hard at work in San Francisco trying to fix a loud humming sound that’s been coming from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and annoying nearby residents for over a year.
The bridge started emanating the loud hum following a retrofit last year of the sidewalk safety railing on its western side.
Crews replaced some 12,000 wide slates with narrower ones to give the bridge a slimmer profile and make it safer during high winds.
But due to implementing these safety precautions, the noise increased.
It’s especially evident when there are high wind gusts that seep through the slats.
Many people have posted recordings of the musical performance on social media.
Some say the noise can reportedly be heard as far away as Daly City, which is about 10 miles south of San Francisco.
“Some people have found it to be meditative and angelic,” said bridge spokesman Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz, while quickly acknowledging that most people find it distressing.
Cosulich-Schwartz said engineers using full-size sections of the bridge railing inside a wind tunnel are working on a solution, but he couldn’t provide additional details.
“We’ll have more to say this summer,” Cosulich-Schwartz said. “It’s a tricky business. We want to be absolutely sure we get it right. We will never sacrifice the structural integrity of the bridge but we want to be responsive to our neighbors.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.