Street lighting is an important part of keeping people safe at night. Walk along an appropriately-lit road and you feel safer, travel along a road and the lights make it easier to see further ahead, avoiding any potential hazards.
For many centuries Rochester Bridge had no street lighting, and while we can understand the argument for switching lights off to save carbon, that’s not an option if we’re to help keep people safe.
Instead, we’re doing what we can to reduce the carbon footprint of our street lighting, and have replaced all bulbs with LEDs.
Three of the many advantages of changing to LED lights are:
• Longevity – traditional bulbs have filaments that burn out quicker compared to LEDs.
• Reduced maintenance requirements as bulbs need to be replaced less often.
• They are highly energy efficient.
For Rochester Bridge we already have the numbers for just how energy efficient these new lightbulbs are, with a reduction of 5.53 tonnes of embodied carbon each year. This is roughly equal to 35 trees.