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50 Examples Of Brilliant Infrastructure That Are A Testimony To Human Ingenuity (New Pics)
If you think that infrastructure can’t be cool, think again. Transport systems, public utilities, telecommunications, and various facilities might sound dull and dreary on the surface, but that’s not the case. Not only are they vital to keep civilization healthy and society functioning, but they can also look incredibly impressive from a design perspective.
Today, we’re showcasing some of the most out-of-the-box examples of infrastructure from all over the globe, as showcased on this brilliant online group. Scroll down for some awesome sights. And if you have any friends who are engineers or are really into architecture and design, be sure to share the pics with them, too.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Holland, Michigan's Downtown Has Heated Streets And Sidewalks That Melt Snow And Ice
The system utilizes wastewater from a nearby power plant which circulates through 120 miles of plastic piping underneath the pavement. It can melt an inch of snow in an hour even at 20 degrees Fahrenheit... No salt!
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#2
Highway Turned Into A Canal In Utrecht, Netherlands
#3
Sart Canal Bridge, Belgium... So Surreal, So Serene
Infrastructure is a very broad category. It encompasses a wide variety of different structures, without which civilization comes to a grinding halt.
On one side, you have everything related to transportation, like roads, highways, railways, bridges, airports, tunnels, public transit, etc. These are probably the things that might immediately come to mind when you hear the word ‘infrastructure.’ However, that’s just part of the equation.
#4
Layers
#5
At Nearly 24 Miles Long, The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway In Louisiana Stands As The Longest Continuous Bridge Over Water In The World
#6
Animal Crossing In Bydgoszcz, Poland
You also have structures and systems related to public utilities and energy infrastructure, like power plants, electrical grids, clean drinking water supplies, and waste management systems.
Then, you have telecommunications infrastructure that spans phone networks and the internet, including cabling and satellites.
#7
Boston - Big Dig Before vs. After
Upstaged75 3 months ago (edited)
I remember driving around Boston during the Big Dig. It made me want to scream!
#8
Wave Pedestrian Bridge - Kyiv, Ukraine
#9
Chiba Suspended Monorail, Tokyo Metropolitan Area
You also can’t forget the IT infrastructure that includes hardware and software, which keep things like data centers, network equipment, cloud computing, firewalls, and operating systems functioning smoothly.
On top of all of that, you also have social infrastructure facilities like hospitals, schools, libraries, cultural institutions, and recreational facilities.
#10
The Monorail In Chiba, In Tokyo's Suburbs
#11
Amsterdam Netherlands In 1971 vs. 2020
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago (edited)
Look at how much cleaner the air is. And how many people are travelling using muscle power. Think about the improvement in length and quality of life the Dutch have achieved just by noticing that 1) they've got a flat country and 2) bicycles are great on the flat.
#12
Bus Lanes In Essen, Germany
Taken together, good infrastructure is the foundation on which any civilized society is built. Without it, everything falls apart. Proper infrastructure improves people’s quality of life and allows society to function efficiently and effectively. Meanwhile, infrastructure creation and maintenance projects create jobs.
If your infrastructure fails, everything breaks down.
#13
Map Of La Plata, Argentina. One Of The Best Planned Cities In The World
#14
The Age Of Walls Overlooking The Age Of Bridges, Highspeed Train, Beijing, China
#15
The Longest Highspeed Rail Line In The World Crossing A Desert. Lanzhou- Xinjiang Railway
Infrastructure that doesn’t just fulfil its function but also lasts for a long time without much need for maintenance is doubly impressive.
Resilient Roadways points out that the Romans began realizing the need for more reliable, long-lasting, durable, and efficient roadway systems in 312 BC. This was when the Via Appia (Appian Way), linking Rome with Capua, began to be built. It was the prototype for the Roman road system.
But the first roads are far, far older than that.
#16
The Bike Lane In Downtown Seattle
#17
The Monorail In Wuppertal, Germany
2WheelTravlr 3 months ago
I'm so happy this is still in operation. What a lovely piece of early machine age design!
#18
Bridge In The Netherlands
According to the Federal Highway Administration, which is part of the US Department of Transportation, the oldest constructed roads that have been discovered date back to around 4000 BC.
They were stone-paved streets in the Mesopotamian cities of Ur and Babylon (now modern Iraq).
#19
London Sanitation Engineers Overseeing New Sewer Construction Following The Great Stink Of 1858
#20
Saale-Elster-Talbrücke, Germany's Longest Railway Bridge And Also Europe's Longest Highspeed-Rail Bridge
#21
Dutch Roundabout With Center Bus Lane
In this day and age, roads and streets tend to be paved with asphalt concrete. The Federal Highway Administration explains that this is what you get when you add asphalt cement to sand and rock.
Asphalt cements can be modified, for instance, by adding polymers for added stability, less displacement under traffic, and less fatigue-related distress.
Meanwhile, the so-called binders that are added must be soft enough during cold periods to minimize thermal cracking.
#22
Mass Timber Parking In Wendlingen, Germany
#23
Infrastructure That Never Was : The City Of Cincinnati Started To Build A Rapid Transit System In The 1920s But Only Completed Seven Miles Of Subway Lines Before The Project Was Abandoned
#24
The Marenostrum Supercomputer
The subreddit that we’re featuring today boasts 741k members. It has been around since 2011, and encourages people to share high-quality images of infrastructure. Members are asked to provide a bit of context about the photos they share. And you should mention the fact if you actually took the photo yourself.
#25
Wuhu Yangtze River Bridge, China
kissmychakram 3 months ago
Absolutely not. No thank you. I have a terrible fear of bridges, this is my worst nightmare.
#27
Turning Off Niagara Falls For The First Time In 12,000 Years 1969
General Anaesthesia 3 months ago
They only turned off the American Falls. Goat Island is to the right of the picture, and at the top of it you can see the dam that diverts the water from the American falls to the Canadian Horseshoe falls that kept falling.
“Paved roads and other public transit, agriculture, freight, waste management, and water systems are all things we could live without, but we really don't want to,” the moderators of the subreddit write, adding that these things “look cool, too!”
The subreddit has also adopted the witty tagline “Because sometimes faster is better,” and we can’t help but agree with them.
#28
The New Gordie Howe Bridge Progresses Across The Detroit River
#29
Retro-Future Infrastructure: A 1913 Vision Of A Five-Storied, Six Level Super Street In New York, With The Claim That It Would 'Increase The Efficiency Of Business Traffic By 25 Percent
#30
Favourite Airport Layout/Design? Midway Airport, Chicago
Apatheist Account2 3 months ago
One thing I found out recently was that when they say "runway 27", it's telling you that it's at 270 degrees (ie west).
We’d like to hear your thoughts, Pandas. Which of these infrastructure projects wowed you the most? Which ones do you think have the perfect balance of incredible aesthetics and functional design?
What is the most impressive structure, facility, building, or piece of infrastructure that you’ve personally seen?
Let us know in the comments below.
#31
Earthquake In Japan Raises The Manhole Above Ground
#32
Nouvelle Route Du Littoral, Most Expensive Road Of The World In Réunion Island, France
Upstaged75 3 months ago
Reunion used to be one of the best surfing spots in the world. Until they had 27 fatal shark attacks. 65 attacks overall. Now surfing is banned. The sharks (Bull and Tiger) are most likely drawn closer to shore by environmental changes like pollution, overfishing, and freshwater runoff.
#33
Takaosan Highway Interchange, Tokyo
#34
Five Way Streetcar Junction Being Built In Toronto, 1923
#35
Shonan Monorail, Near Tokyo, Japan
#36
Anji Khad Bridge- India's First Cable-Stayed Railway Bridge
#37
Łódź, Poland
#38
Nanjing South Railway Station
#39
This Is What A Highspeed Rail Line Cutting Through A Plateau Looks Like, Ningxia Province, China
Jrog 3 months ago
That is an ecological disaster. The Ningxia plateau is steppe territory that is considered endangered and an ecologically sensitive area. The chinese government decided to cut through the landscape like a noob Transport Tycoon player, interrupting migratory routes and separating animal communities that are now declining. They could have just brushed through the bibliography on "road ecology" and built tunnels as we do in the rest of the world, solve the problem at a slightly more expensive price, yet they didn't care.
#40
Infrastructure P**n Or Ugly?
Mike Goslin 3 months ago
Strangely, those wind turbines will probably make more profit than the farmland underneath it.
#42
Chongqing East Railway Station
#44
Three Gorges Dam, World's Largest Hydro-Power Project
Brian Garcia 3 months ago
Soon to be eclipsed by another giant d**n in China that will dwarf the Three Gorges. Unintended consequence with the Three Gorges and undoubtedly the next behemoth is seismic activity in an otherwise benign area. Park that much water in a single area and that's a lot of weight.
#45
Somewhere In China
#46
3 Train Systems In Bangkok
#48
Monorail Under Construction In Monterrey, Mexico
The Cute Cat 3 months ago
Monorail is actually much less efficient compared to other train technology
#49
I Find Some Beauty In Road Interchanges
#50
Palo Verde Nuclear Powerplant, USA's Largest Thermal Powerplant And 2nd Largest Of Any Powerplant
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago
I see condensing cooling water - where do they get it from in that arid landscape?
#51
Frigid Passage: The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw Cuts A Track Through 30 Inches Of Fast Ice On Lake Michigan’s Green Bay
David Houde 3 months ago
Must be an old photo. The Mackinaw was decommissioned in 2006 and is now a floating museum. I did a tour a couple years ago when I was in Mackinaw City, MI.
#52
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Under Construction, New York City
nottheactualphoto 3 months ago
Fun fact: for most of the bridge's existence, its name was misspelled on the road signs.
#54
The Highway Bridge Damaged By The Earthquake And Its New Route
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What do you think ?
Daniela Lavanza 3 months ago
No Millau viaduct? How surprising, it belongs in this list to me. RV-AK473_M...180714.jpg 
Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago
I used to live near here, long before it was built. Absolutely amazing to see now!
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Smeghead Tribble Down Under 3 months ago
I hear those things are awfully loud...
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Lotekguy 3 months ago
I wish my fellow Americans who smugly believe we are still number one in every respect would look at these and other pictures that show how far behind we are falling in infrastructure, housing and other perks of civilization.
bodhisayumi 2 months ago
You should be proud to be this an American. We are Always #1. Maybe you should relocate. North Korea?
Load More Replies...
Otto Katz 3 months ago
I am terrified of heights, and yet one day I found myself driving over the Confederation Bridge in a gale. It's only a 2-lane road, with a break-down lane in either direction. I was terrified, but I made it. 481903636_...352f6e.jpg 
AnnaB 3 months ago
This is the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Florida. I used to drive it back and forth to work and hated every second of it. download-6...dc0580.jpg 
keyboardtek 3 months ago
Every one of these photos makes me thankful that I live in a small town of just 16,000 people with minimal traffic and zero congestion.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago (edited)
keyboardtek: I've always lived in big cities - well, mostly their suburbs. But some of those photos made me shudder at the sheer crazy scale of it all.
Load More Replies... Daniela Lavanza 3 months ago
No Millau viaduct? How surprising, it belongs in this list to me. RV-AK473_M...180714.jpg
Zig Zag Wanderer 3 months ago
I used to live near here, long before it was built. Absolutely amazing to see now!
Load More Replies... Smeghead Tribble Down Under 3 months ago
I hear those things are awfully loud...
Load More Replies... Lotekguy 3 months ago
I wish my fellow Americans who smugly believe we are still number one in every respect would look at these and other pictures that show how far behind we are falling in infrastructure, housing and other perks of civilization.
bodhisayumi 2 months ago
You should be proud to be this an American. We are Always #1. Maybe you should relocate. North Korea?
Load More Replies... Otto Katz 3 months ago
I am terrified of heights, and yet one day I found myself driving over the Confederation Bridge in a gale. It's only a 2-lane road, with a break-down lane in either direction. I was terrified, but I made it. 481903636_...352f6e.jpg
AnnaB 3 months ago
This is the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Florida. I used to drive it back and forth to work and hated every second of it. download-6...dc0580.jpg
keyboardtek 3 months ago
Every one of these photos makes me thankful that I live in a small town of just 16,000 people with minimal traffic and zero congestion.
Forrest Hobbs 3 months ago (edited)
keyboardtek: I've always lived in big cities - well, mostly their suburbs. But some of those photos made me shudder at the sheer crazy scale of it all.
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