A £35 MILLION deal to upgrade street lighting in the Bradford district has been signed.

Amey, a leading infrastructure and highways services provider, has secured the new contract with Bradford Council and it will run for the next four years.

The £35m amount is inclusive of a significant social value commitment within Bradford.

Amey will provide services to survey the 56,500 street lighting assets, provide design for 53,700 units and replace 48,300 existing street lights with energy efficient LED luminaires, including the replacement of approximately 15,600 expired columns with a further 5,000 columns being modified.

The company says it will use the latest innovative solutions, technology and in-house design capabilities to protect the environment by reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions by 65 per cent, which in turn will reduce ongoing maintenance costs for the client and customers.

An important aspect of the contract is that Amey is providing social value commitments to transform local communities, by providing a range of initiatives to provide opportunities for young people, the unemployed and disabled, together with providing voluntary work to support and benefit the community.

Peter Anderson, managing director for transport infrastructure at Amey, said: “We are delighted that we have been confirmed as Preferred Bidder by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council to deliver their Street Lighting requirements.

“Our Transport Infrastructure business has a wealth of experience in delivering street lighting contracts throughout the UK, so to be chosen by Bradford Council is a fantastic acknowledgement of our expertise.

“For us, this contract is not just about providing better street lighting for the district, it’s also about helping to enhance the area for local communities through our social value commitments.”

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “The Council is looking forward to working with Amey to deliver the exciting Smart Street Lighting project, which will not only provide significant energy savings, improved reliability and dynamic lighting control but also a platform for the Internet of Things connectivity to provide the Council with the ability to develop as a Smart City.”

Amey operates street lighting contracts in Norfolk, Walsall, Manchester and Wakefield, managing a total of over half a million streetlights across the country. It also has completed LED upgrades in Sheffield, Birmingham and Trafford and is currently in the process of an LED upgrade in Edinburgh.

The deal is part of Bradford Council's £45 million streetlight replacement programme which will see 59,000 lights and 17,000 lamp posts replaced over the coming year. The scheme will be paid for through loans, and is expected to save the taxpayer £189m over 50 years, as well as reducing energy consumption.

In May the Council appointed Costain as its strategic delivery partner as part of a £2m contract.

The new lights will use Internet of Things technology – which can be used to connect a wide range of sensors to help the Council better manage local infrastructure such as measuring road temperatures, air pollution, gullies or river levels so that maintenance and investment can be more efficiently targeted.