These feats of engineering excellence might dazzle you with their photogenic glory, but it’s infrastructure’s development processes that make it far more impressive.

Infrastructure is often considered to be the backbone of the modern world. Hard infrastructure especially, with its intricate webs of transportation, network and power grids, and plumbing, are crucial to pretty much all city dwellers every single day.

When developing such vital parts of our everyday lives, engineers need to weigh many different concerns, the project’s purpose and structural integrity being the most obvious ones. However, these are not the only challenges they face.

Infrastructure’s climate resilience is probably one of the most prominent issues these days. Engineers are encouraged to design structures that can withstand flooding, extreme temperatures, rising sea levels, and other physical impacts of climate change. 

An example of this initiative is the call to replace gray infrastructure with green infrastructure. The difference between the two is that gray infrastructure focuses on sluicing away rain water with the help of pipes and gutters while the green type is all about capturing it by using porous pavements, rain gardens, green roofs, and the like.

Then, there’s also the impact of the infrastructure on nature. Deforestation is probably the first thing that comes to mind here, but there are other concerns, too. A study conducted by European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research shows that habitat loss, mortality, as well as noise and air pollution are the most obvious traffic effects on wildlife.

Furthermore, road barriers tend to isolate populations. And while it might seem that constructing wildlife corridors is an easy enough solution, it’s not all positive either as it can invite nonnative pest species into the landscapes.

In addition to affecting wildlife, infrastructure can negatively affect local communities. For example, building dams can destroy wetlands, dry river basins, and leave people vulnerable to flooding or droughts. Infrastructure developments can also displace people and affect the livelihoods of nearby workers.

However, the positive effects of infrastructure can also be great, often creating job opportunities for locals. Access to electricity and internet can spur economic growth, while roads and telecommunication increase social connectivity.

At the other end of the scale for all these considerations is, of course, funding. According to experts, the infrastructure in the US is underfunded and is lagging behind the country’s economic competitors. Projected investment infrastructure gaps mostly affect the road networks, with it needing almost double the investments.

All in all, that’s quite a lot to consider. However, on top of it all, engineers don’t forget about the aesthetics of the projects they develop. They not only try to strike a balance between all the variables at hand, they also aim to build something beautiful. These images are proof of their excellence.