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One of America's oldest suspension bridges is getting a modern makeover: the famous necklace lights on the Brooklyn Bridge are to be replaced with energy-efficient bulbs.
The project is one of several environmental upgrades that Mayor Michael Bloomberg said would soon begin on city facilities. Others include replacing 25,000 street lights and phasing in new hybrid police and fire vehicles.
Changing 160 lights on the landmark bridge, which turns 125 years old next year, is expected to cost US$500,000 ($660,760) and result in a saving of 134 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually. Officials said other city bridges could follow.
The city's bridges first got their lights in the early 1970s and can be seen from more than 40km away.
Mr Bloomberg said the switch - from 100W mercury vapour lamps to 24W bulbs known as light-emitting diodes - would not be noticeably dimmer.
Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, typically lasted three times longer, said Jonathan Wish, chief strategic officer at LED Dynamics, which is not affiliated with the city's project. Most mercury vapour lights lasted for 24,000 hours, or about 1000 days, before burning out, he said.
"Because of the longevity, they're not going to have to change these lights for years, and that will save maintenance costs on top of electricity."
The city said a special prototype was being developed; the lights are expected to be replaced next year.
Last northern spring, Mr Bloomberg's administration released a report that found the city's carbon count was 58.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2005. That accounts for nearly 1 per cent of all emissions nationwide; the US total was 7.26 billion tonnes that year.
The mayor wants to achieve a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases citywide by 2030, but the projects outlined last week are part of a short-term plan to see immediate, and more modest, reductions on the way to that larger goal. In total, the short-term projects are estimated to achieve a greenhouse gas reduction of 34,000 tonnes a year.
In New York, transportation does not account for as much of the total emissions count as pollutants from buildings. In the highly dense urban environment, building operations and the electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam that they consume make up 79 per cent of the total, the city report found.
The city also plans to replace interior lighting in some schools, police precincts, sanitation garages, firehouses and other municipal office buildings.
- AP
