Bridge gets connected lighting

Konstanz has fitted the Europabrücke with sensor-linked LED lighting that brightens and dims with traffic and weather, while shifting color to reduce impact on the Seerhein at night. (schreder.com) The City of Konstanz and Stadtwerke Konstanz replaced 52 older streetlights on the 37-meter-wide bridge in autumn 2025 with Schréder TECEO fixtures using FlexiWhite technology. The system is managed through Schréder’s EXEDRA platform. (schreder.com; konstanz.de) Traffic and weather sensors now collect round-the-clock data on road lanes, the bike path and pavements, plus speed, vehicle types and visibility conditions. The bridge lighting dims when use is light and rises to full output in heavier traffic or poor weather. (konstanz.de; schreder.com) Connected street lighting works like a citywide dimmer switch with sensors attached: poles gather data, software processes it, and lamps adjust output instead of running at one fixed level all night. The European Union’s Smart Cities Marketplace says connected systems can add at least 60% more energy savings on top of a basic Light Emitting Diode upgrade. (smart-cities-marketplace.ec.europa.eu) On the Europabrücke, Schréder says the old installation used about 61,000 kilowatt-hours a year. The new setup is expected to cut nearly 46,000 kilowatt-hours annually, a reduction of up to 75%. (schreder.com; konstanz.de) The environmental target is unusually specific: the bridge crosses the Seerhein, a stretch of the Rhine river system beside sensitive habitats that Konstanz says it wanted to shield from artificial light. The city’s Smart Green City program ties projects like this to its goal of becoming largely climate-neutral by the end of 2035. (schreder.com; smart-city-dialog.de) The lamps can shift color temperature from 2,200 Kelvin to 3,000 Kelvin, using cooler light in the morning and warmer light later in the day. Schréder says the warmer setting reduces blue-rich light that affects insects more strongly, while the fixtures are also designed to keep light from spilling above the horizontal plane. (schreder.com; schreder.com) Researchers have warned that bridge lighting over rivers can act as a barrier for migrating fish when artificial light reaches the water. Konstanz and Schréder both cite fish movement along the Seerhein as a design constraint for the project. (sciencedirect.com; schreder.com) Konstanz has been testing sensor-driven lighting along the Seerhein for several years, and city officials are now presenting the Europabrücke installation as a larger, high-traffic version of that approach. On this bridge, the pitch is simple: put more light where people need it, and less where the river does not. (stadt-und-werk.de; konstanz.de)