Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth. Viewed functionally, infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and services; for example, roads enable the transport of raw materials to a factory, and also for the distribution of finished products to markets. In some contexts, the term may also include basic social services such as schools and hospitals In military parlance, the term refers to the buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces.
Types of infrastructure
The following list 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 of electro-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.
Natural gaspipelines, storage and distribution terminals, as well as the local distribution network
Petroleumpipelines, including associated storage and distribution terminals
Steam or hot water production and distribution networks for district heating systems
Water management infrastructure
Drinking water supply, including the system of pipes, pumps, valves, filtration and treatment equipment and meters, including buildings and structures to house the equipment, used for the collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water
Cable television networks including receiving stations and cable distribution networks
Internet backbone, including high-speed data cables, routers and servers as well as the protocols and other basic software required for the system to function
Major private, government or dedicated telecommunications networks, such as those used for internal communication and monitoring by major infrastructure companies, by governments, by the military or by emergency services
Note that certain systems or facilities that are similar to infrastructure are not included in this list because they are essentially services performed by people (commuter bus services, garbage collection services, emergency services) or they are facilities that are not necessarily part of or in the form of a network (parks, sports facilities), or they are essentially privately-owned industrial plants that do not necessarily depend on a fixed distribution network (oil refineries). However solid waste disposal facilities were included because they are often the critical nodal points of a network-like public service (garbage collection), and are usually publicly owned or heavily regulated. Telecommunication systems are included if their function is limited to the conveyance of information (telephone system), but not if their function includes supplying the content of that information (TV or radio networks).
Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. The term typically refers to the technical structures that support a society, such as roads, water supply, sewers, power grids, telecommunications, and so forth. Viewed functionally, infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and services; for example, roads enable the transport of raw materials to a factory, and also for the distribution of finished products to markets. In some contexts, the term may also include basic social services such as schools and hospitals In military parlance, the term refers to the buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces.
Types of infrastructure
The following list 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 of electro-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.Transportation infrastructure
Energy infrastructure
Water management infrastructure
Communications infrastructure
Waste management facilities
Earth monitoring and measurement networks
- Meteorological monitoring networks
- Tidal monitoring networks
- Stream Gauge or fluviometric monitoring networks
- Seismometer networks
- Remote sensing satellites
- Geodetic benchmarks
- Global Positioning System
Note that certain systems or facilities that are similar to infrastructure are not included in this list because they are essentially services performed by people (commuter bus services, garbage collection services, emergency services) or they are facilities that are not necessarily part of or in the form of a network (parks, sports facilities), or they are essentially privately-owned industrial plants that do not necessarily depend on a fixed distribution network (oil refineries). However solid waste disposal facilities were included because they are often the critical nodal points of a network-like public service (garbage collection), and are usually publicly owned or heavily regulated. Telecommunication systems are included if their function is limited to the conveyance of information (telephone system), but not if their function includes supplying the content of that information (TV or radio networks).References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure