Help solving the vibrating pole mystery.

AI Thread Summary
A street pole in Italy has been reported to vibrate for extended periods without a clear cause, prompting various theories. Possible explanations include nearby construction, wind turbulence known as "vortex shedding," and resonance effects. Some suggest that traffic could contribute to the vibrations, while others propose testing the pole's response to added weight to confirm resonance. There are speculations about underground machinery, like a water pump, potentially causing the vibrations. Overall, the discussion highlights the mystery surrounding the pole's behavior, with no definitive solution currently available.
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The online edition of an italian newspaper, reported the curious event of a street pole which seems to vibrate for prolonged times, hours, even an entire day and without any clear reason.
Someone talks about a building site in the nearby area, other talks about a wind turbulence called "vortex shredding", but the pole has been vibrating, it seems, even is absence of wind.
See the pole in the linked video:

http://video.repubblica.it/edizione...a-e-vortex-shedding/124054/122541?ref=HRESS-6
 
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Looks like it could be from a combination of wind and all the traffic.
 
The should build all street lamps like this, and harvest the energy to power the lamps.
 
Looks like a simple case of resonance to me. This hypothesis could be easily tested by sticking a weight to the pole and seeing is it stops.
 
I wonder if there could be a motor running, underground near the bottom. A water pump, for instance, at just the right frequency could be supplying the energy to make it vibrate.
I think mrpeedybob is right. Load it and see if it still resonates at a few % different frequency. One thing is sure and that is that there is no free energy getting to it.
There is probably no way of testing any hypothesis about it so we should really let it go - PF policy.
 

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