In Lamorinda, Residents Hunt Down Things That Bump, Whirr, and Grind In the Night

It's O-Dark-Thirty and Lamorinda is asleep, the sidewalks safely rolled up and only the opossum moving about. And then, dragging you out of that deep sleep is a low, persistent whee-wheeeeeir, whee-wheeeeir or maybe a grrr-grrr-isssh, grrr-grrr-isssh.

Your eyes snap open like those old fashioned pull shades and, if you're one whose brain functions after being dragged out of a dead sleep, you run down the list of usual suspects: overhead power lines, neighbor's pool pump, car stereo, maybe a generator.

But as the brain powers up fully you realize that this morning it's none of those things and you are aware you can feel this noise, it's actually vibrating your bed.

And it isn't going away.

What to do? If you're like us, or Susan Stafford of Orinda, you hop in the car and hunt down the alien power source with all the intent of writing a sharply worded letter to its owner or something else, you aren't sure what.

Susan lives on Brookwood Road in Orinda and lately, it seems, she and her neighbors haven't been able to get much sleep because of the high frequency intruder.

"For one solid week, there has been audible, low-grade buzzing/humming and a vibrating noise throughout the night," she said. "(It) started as buzzing/humming.
Last night it was all over the map and much more audible outside than in previous nights. Throughout the week, we've all assumed it's from inside the complex. Nothing in our garages, no air conditioners, no compressors, no loud music..."

Early last Sunday, when Susan was awakened yet again, she got into her car at 2:30 a.m. to pinpoint the source of the noise once and for all.

"I went to 67 Brookwood Road and listened there and could hear the alternating buzzing/humming," she said. "I drove to downtown Orinda, and up around SpringHill Pool, then I drove to the tunnel. I took the Wilder Road exit and I could still hear the noise. Unrelenting, low-grade buzzing/humming/ alternating tones and vibrations..."

She heard it at Wilder Road and drove to Fish Ranch but lost the sound amid all the freeway noise. When she returned home, it was there to meet her.

"When I lie down, I can 'feel' it in the building," Susan said. She wrote to CalTrans, who said it couldn't be them, because their noise sensors show no abnormal activity near the Fourth Bore Project. But Susan remains skeptical.

"Is there a sound machine that can measure to verify what we're hearing? she said. "People are welcome to come here and try to figure out where it's coming from. The oddity is that it seems to start around 9 p.m. and goes through the night until dawn. This is why I suspect the tunnel construction is the culprit, unless the City of Orinda is working on something during the night in this neighborhood."

So far, no one is fessing up and Susan is no closer to getting a full night's sleep than she was a week ago.

Her homeowner's association is busy checking all the equipment in her complex but has found nothing out of sorts.

"There has to be an answer somewhere," Susan said. "I know sound vibrations and noise can bounce around in different ways. I'm just hoping someone can help."