New LED lighting will be controllable remotely, be able to connect a wide range of sensors reading air pollution and road temperatures and will reduce energy use.
Bradford Council has taken its plan to install energy-efficient street lighting across the district a step further by recruiting a strategic delivery partner to support its ambitious programme.
Costain, the smart infrastructure solutions company with expertise in energy, water and transport has been awarded a £2m contract to manage the project.
The Council’s Smart Street Lighting project will see 59,000 lights replaced with new LED lights and 17,000 lampposts replaced across the district. The new street lights will also be controllable remotely to adjust the times they operate or their.
The project will reduce the Council's street lighting power consumption by 65 per cent and its carbon emissions by over 6,000 tonnes per year, making a significant contribution to its work to tackle climate change. It will also save taxpayers an estimated £189m over 50 years.
The new lights will use Internet of Things (IoT) technology – which can be used to connect a wide range of sensors to help the Council better manage local infrastructure, e.g. measuring road temperatures, air pollution, gullies or river levels so that maintenance and investment can be more efficiently targeted. Costain will work with the Council to find ways to expand this technology to other areas of its work.
Costain has worked with Bradford Council as a strategic delivery partner on projects over the last three years which have seen £500m worth of capital programmes as part of the Transforming Cities Fund. This is working towards sustainable transport links for the Bradford district.
Cllr Alex Ross-Shaw, Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “Bradford’s Smart Street Lighting programme represents a major investment in one of the biggest assets of the Council - our 59,000 street lighting columns.
“The ability to ensure effective delivery of the contract was paramount in Bradford’s approach to seeking a delivery partner with the skills, knowledge and ability to drive both the financial savings and the associated positive contribution to our CO2 emissions which are key outputs over the next five years.
“The appointment of Costain to the strategic delivery partner role has given Bradford the confidence that we have the right people helping us achieve these outcomes based on our experience of their involvement in our programmes of transport investment in the district.“
Sue Kershaw, Transportation managing director, Costain, said: “In these unprecedented times, where Covid-19 has brought much of the economy to a standstill, local authorities are under huge pressure to continue delivery of critical programmes of work for their communities. Our relationship with Bradford Council, which focuses on partnership and outcomes, has allowed us to reach back into our organisation to deliver additional capacity, capability, resilience and flexibility in a range of areas to support our client and keep the transport infrastructure services working.”
The Council declared a climate emergency in January 2019 and as part of Leeds City Region is committed to being part of a carbon neutral city region by 2038. It announced in January 2020 that it is investing an extra £1m revenue funding over the next year as part of £25m of new investments to tackle climate change across the district.
This work supporting Bradford Council also demonstrates Costain’s commitment to helping clients accelerate the transition to a net zero carbon economy, made as part of its Climate Change Action plan launched in February 2020, and is another step in fulfilling its ambition to lead UK infrastructure into a zero carbon future by 2035 at the latest, supporting the UK Government in meeting their 2050 target.
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