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.
#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!
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#2 Progress vs. Progress
Image source: CborG82
#3 Chiba Suspended Monorail, Tokyo Metropolitan Area
Image source: Double-decker_trams
#4 Highway Turned Into A Canal In Utrecht, Netherlands
Image source: Extra_Place_1955
#5 Sart Canal Bridge, Belgium… So Surreal, So Serene
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#6 The Monorail In Chiba, In Tokyo’s Suburbs
Image source: biwook
#7 Wave Pedestrian Bridge – Kyiv, Ukraine
Image source: rockystl
#8 This Is What A Highspeed Rail Line Cutting Through A Plateau Looks Like, Ningxia Province, China
Image source: Nervous_Plan_8370
#9 Bus Lanes In Essen, Germany
Image source: Cultural_Skin_1276
#10 Boston – Big Dig Before vs. After
Image source: newtoboston2019
#11 Layers
Image source: cnewell420
#12 The Longest Highspeed Rail Line In The World Crossing A Desert. Lanzhou- Xinjiang Railway
Image source: Spoiledsoymilk
#13 Saale-Elster-Talbrücke, Germany’s Longest Railway Bridge And Also Europe’s Longest Highspeed-Rail Bridge
Image source: william-isaac
#14 Animal Crossing In Bydgoszcz, Poland
Image source: LUXI-PL
#15 At Nearly 24 Miles Long, The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway In Louisiana Stands As The Longest Continuous Bridge Over Water In The World
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#16 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
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#17 The Age Of Walls Overlooking The Age Of Bridges, Highspeed Train, Beijing, China
Image source: Spoiledsoymilk
#18 Bridge In The Netherlands
Image source: tijelu
#19 Map Of La Plata, Argentina. One Of The Best Planned Cities In The World
Image source: Double0six
#20 Mass Timber Parking In Wendlingen, Germany
Image source: r_sole1
#21 Turning Off Niagara Falls For The First Time In 12,000 Years 1969
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#22 Dutch Roundabout With Center Bus Lane
Image source: Minute_Play1196
#23 London Sanitation Engineers Overseeing New Sewer Construction Following The Great Stink Of 1858
Image source: biwook
#24 Three Gorges Dam, World’s Largest Hydro-Power Project
Image source: straightdge
#25 Nouvelle Route Du Littoral, Most Expensive Road Of The World In Réunion Island, France
Image source: AggressiveShoulder83
#26 Favourite Airport Layout/Design? Midway Airport, Chicago
Image source: No-Significance-1023
#27 Wuhu Yangtze River Bridge, China
Image source: straightdge
#28 The Marenostrum Supercomputer
Image source: r_sole1
#29 Amsterdam Netherlands In 1971 vs. 2020
Image source: frorningboppy
#30 Takaosan Highway Interchange, Tokyo
Image source: biwook
#31 The Bike Lane In Downtown Seattle
Image source: Mobile_Millennial
#32 Infrastructure P**n Or Ugly?
Image source: According_South_2500
#33 Five Way Streetcar Junction Being Built In Toronto, 1923
Image source: rounding_error
#34 The New Gordie Howe Bridge Progresses Across The Detroit River
Image source: innsertnamehere
#35 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
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#36 Shonan Monorail, Near Tokyo, Japan
Image source: biwook
#37 Jiangsu, China
Image source: straightdge
#38 Monorail Under Construction In Monterrey, Mexico
Image source: Spascucci
#39 The Monorail In Wuppertal, Germany
Image source: EdgeApprehensive211
#40 Chongqing East Railway Station
Image source: straightdge
#41 Nanjing South Railway Station
Image source: straightdge
#42 Frigid Passage: The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw Cuts A Track Through 30 Inches Of Fast Ice On Lake Michigan’s Green Bay
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#43 Earthquake In Japan Raises The Manhole Above Ground
Image source: Saturn_Ecplise
#44 Palo Verde Nuclear Powerplant, USA’s Largest Thermal Powerplant And 2nd Largest Of Any Powerplant
Image source: One-Demand6811
#45 Łódź, Poland
Image source: Rift3N
#46 Somewhere In China
Image source: straightdge
#47 Herzegovina Bridge, Bosnia And Herzegovina
Image source: UselessBot_
#48 The Gordie Howe International Bridge In Detroit, Oct. 24, 2022
Image source: No_Cartoonist9458
#49 Tokyo Monrail
Image source: tannerge
#50 Monorail Line Construction In Monterrey, Mexico
Image source: Spascucci
#51 Anji Khad Bridge- India’s First Cable-Stayed Railway Bridge
Image source: 165Hertz
#52 The Highway Bridge Damaged By The Earthquake And Its New Route
Image source: ElectricalPeninsula
#53 New Highway In China
Image source: DutchBakerery
#54 I Find Some Beauty In Road Interchanges
Image source: Fun-Raisin2575
#55 3 Train Systems In Bangkok
Image source: Few_Maize_1586
#56 Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Under Construction, New York City
Image source: GhostOfRobertMoses
#57 This Interchange In Uae That Seems A Bit Too Big
Image source: itsarace1
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