Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise,[1] or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function.[2] It can be generally defined as the set of interconnected structural elements that provide framework supporting an entire structure of development.
The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, electrical grids,telecommunications, and so forth, and can be defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions."[3]
Viewed functionally, infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and services, and also the distribution of finished products to markets, as well as basic social services such as schools and hospitals; for example, roads enable the transport of raw materials to a factory.[4] Inmilitary parlance, the term refers to the buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces.[5]
Types of hard infrastructure
The following list of hard infrastructure is limited to capital assets that serve the function of conveyance or channelling of people, vehicles, fluids, energy, or information, and which take the form either of a network or of a critical node used by vehicles, or used for the transmission ofelectro-magnetic waves.
Infrastructure systems include both the fixed assets, and the control systems and software required to operate, manage and monitor the systems, as well as any accessory buildings, plants, or vehicles that are an essential part of the system. Also included are fleets of vehicles operating according to schedules such as public transit buses and garbage collection, as well as basic energy or communications facilities that are not usually part of a physical network, such as oil refineries, radio, and television broadcasting facilities.
[edit]Transportation infrastructure
- Road and highway networks, including structures (bridges, tunnels, culverts, retaining walls), signage and markings, electrical systems (street lighting and traffic lights), edge treatments (curbs, sidewalks, landscaping), and specialized facilities such as road maintenance depots and rest areas
- Mass transit systems (Commuter rail systems, subways, tramways, trolleys and bus transportation)
- Railways, including structures, terminal facilities (rail yards, train stations), level crossings, signalling and communications systems
- Canals and navigable waterways requiring continuous maintenance (dredging, etc)
- Seaports and lighthouses
- Airports, including air navigational systems
- Bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways, including pedestrian bridges, pedestrian underpasses and other specialized structures for cyclists and pedestrians
- Ferries
For canals, railroads, highways, airways and pipelines see Grübler (1990),[13] which provides a detailed discussion of the history and importance of these major infrastructures.
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