Anne, who lives at 11th and Pennsylvania SE, writes in:

Can anyone at the DCist identify a noise this morning near Eastern Market? It sounded like loud bangs off in the distance about every two seconds. It occurred in a pretty steady rhythm from about 4:20 a.m. to 5 a.m. this morning. It sounded like the monster from Cloverfield was marching into town.

My first thought was construction, but would they really start at 4:30 a.m.?!

Now, loyal DCist readers will recall that we answered a question like this in 2006. Back then, we uncovered that a similar metallic pulsating noise that was plaguing Capitol Hill was being caused by four cranes with pile-driving machines working on the CSX railroad trestle bridge over the Anacostia. But is this the same noise?

We’re not convinced. Just to start, there’s no evidence we can find that any pile-driving work is being done on the bridge this week. And then there’s this account from today’s Hill East email list, from resident Bob Bateman:

I woke up at about 03:30, heard the noise and after about an hour decided to go out and see if I could figure it out. From my perspective it was coming from the direction of the Capitol/Library of Congress. (I am at 8th and Ind, SE) While out on the street I saw a police car, flagged him down and asked about the sound.

He explained that a steam pipe had broken on the roof of the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) building. The sound was steam being released as it built up pressure and then “popped.” HUD is somewhere around 7th, down in SW. Which means it must’ve been *really* loud down there if we’re all hearing it from more than 15-20 blocks away.

True enough, Bob. We called HUD to see if they could confirm that anything wacky went on with a steam pipe on their roof last night, and spokesperson Donna White told us that there was indeed an incident with a safety valve that was tripped on the HUD roof last night. However, she referred us to the General Services Administration for the complete story, since they would have been the ones to handle the situation, but so far two phone calls to GSA has yet to yield an official statement from that agency. When we hear back anything more about the steam pipe/safety valve incident from GSA, we’ll update.

Photo courtesy dc.gov