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Can bridges make sounds? When we walk across them they vibrate at particular natural frequencies. Just like when we pluck a guitar string or blow into a clarinet.

A group of engineers at Cardiff University decided to translate the vibrations of bridges into musical sounds. We walked, ran and jumped on a bridge at the university and measured the vibrations using a mobile phone app. Then we made our own music based on the bridge’s natural frequencies.

Perhaps we can detect damage in a bridge or an aircraft wing by listening to the changes in the music it makes.

Watch our ‘Sounds and Bridges’ presentation and listen to our music. Then think about ways that you can make music. Can you make our own musical instrument using something that vibrates. Is there a unique sound of the bridges of Wales?