San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge now ‘sings’ due to engineering fault

8 June 2020, 11:46 | Updated: 8 June 2020, 17:38

The woodwind family has gained an unexpected new member... San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

The iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, US, has started “singing”.

Since 5 June, residents in the Bay Area have been posting videos to Twitter, saying they can hear the 83-year-old bridge whistling from miles away.

The musical tones are happening because of wind passing through newly installed railings, according to reports.

A Golden Gate Bridge district spokesperson told CNN the sound is the result of works “designed to make the bridge more aerodynamic under high wind conditions”.

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The district spokesperson added that the changes are “necessary to ensure the safety and structural integrity of the bridge for generations to come”.

While some locals are calling the echoing, empty sound “angelic” and “peaceful”, others have described it as both “eerie” and “sad”.

One local tweeted that the bridge can be heard all the way from Land’s End (see below), while another added they can hear it from Oakland, a city about 13 miles from the bridge.

But it seems not everyone is enjoying the music. A video filmed by someone crossing the bridge is captioned: “Engineers designed new sides for the sidewalk to help with wind resistance but didn’t take into account the EXTREME sound it creates when wind passes through it.

“The bridge sings crazy songs now it’s so trippy. It hurts the ears and unbearable it’s that loud.”

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In the past few days, the famous bridge’s newfound musicality has been enjoying widespread media attention.

Local NPR radio station, KQED, reported: “Because it spans a very windy gap across the Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge is now effectively a giant orange wheezing kazoo.”