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I was talking to a coworker about the days when they built the national interstate highway system and how big of a project that was, it changed the landscape of cities and states.
It got me wondering what the next huge infrastructure project will be ( on the same scale as the interstate highways), something that will equally change the landscape and how cities are designed and built...sadly I cannot think of anything...??
A network of high-speed rail lines seems like a good candidate. Not only would it offer relief of crowded airports and highways, but by shifting the passenger trains onto the high-speed tracks, it would free up capacity on the existing rail lines that could be used by more freight trains.
Not nearly as "sexy" as either a high-speed rail network or a nationwide highway system, but simply double-tracking the existing rail network (i.e. building a parallel set of tracks next to existing ones) would dramatically increase the network's carrying capacity.
Along those same lines, adding a third lane in each direction to most of our major interstate highways (at the least, the ones whose numbers end in 0 or 5) would go a long way towards easing congestion.
And finally, a program to bury the utility lines, at least in major urbanized areas, would dramatically "harden" the electrical grid against disasters. Not to mention, it would be a major step up in aesthetics.
I was talking to a coworker about the days when they built the national interstate highway system
and how big of a project that was, it changed the landscape of cities and states.
And it all got done by a population ranging from 155 to 200 Million people.
(WW2 was fought and won with just 132,000,000)
Quote:
It got me wondering what the next huge infrastructure project will be ..
Can anyone think of something?
Retrenchment. An undoing and capping off of the farthest tentacles of such development
as we reconcile our outlook toward stasis and reduction of population levels.
Last edited by MrRational; 07-18-2018 at 02:14 PM..
Eventually cars will travel off the ground. Road condition will become less relevant, and wear will be eliminated. After a while, roads will become irrelevant and low airways will take their place. Or maybe we will get rid of cars altogether and drones will carry us around. That will dramatically change city scapes. Buildings will be designed to look cool from the sky rather than from the ground. that is probably the most likely major change in the foreseeable future and it is still a hundred years away.
Right now our major infrastructure need is fixing what we have. roads, bridges, dams, sewers, treatment plants, piping, the power grid. Pretty much everything is at the end of its usable lifespan. Maybe we will get wires in the ground and off of poles.
The ways we handle sewage and water/power distribution could suddenly change. While less dramatic than flying cars, it would certainly change how we live and how our cities look.
Solar panels may come to dominate the landscape in cities.
as our population ages, trailer parks, RV parks, and tiny house parks may become more and more commonplace, even in cities. I wonder what will be done with all these big houses? gen Z is not going to fill them and appear unlikely to want them.
Rail lines and the power grid are privately owned and are not the responsibility of the federal government.
Many large old homes have been dived into separate apartments, That has been common for many decades.
I disagree in regard to the power grid. Sabotage the power grid and this nation will suffer it's greatest defeat. It's clearly a matter of national security.
When I look at all the interstate highways, high speed trains, light rail and subway that China has built in such a short period of time, I cry out: how did they do it and with such jet speed???
But, unfortunately, or fortunately, we don't have their system of government that won't let Nimby's get in the way of rapid progress. Just think of what they have to achieve, if it should get built, the high speed train line from L.A. to San Francisco! If this were China, it would be up and running by now!
It's always easy to build, but then comes the hard part, and we'll see how China maintains it all down the road.
I believe Flint is just the tip of the iceberg and there's lots more Flint's out there.
Infrastructure was high on the list with Trump at one time, and now, you hear nothing of it. You'd think of all the needy projects he'd fund them in his home city of New York City, that expensive tunnel that's needed, for one.
Myself I'm not a big fan of high speed rail, as I've ridden some of those trains in Europe, and the trains go so fast, you look out the window and you see just a blur of the countryside.
I was talking to a coworker about the days when they built the national interstate highway system and how big of a project that was, it changed the landscape of cities and states.
It got me wondering what the next huge infrastructure project will be ( on the same scale as the interstate highways), something that will equally change the landscape and how cities are designed and built...sadly I cannot think of anything...??
Can anyone think of something?
1) Microgrids to replace older inefficient electrical power generation and distribution systems. They can function on variety of energy sources. Here is a nice educational piece. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-envir...rid-microgrids
Large Corps (Google, Ebay, MorganStanley) have been using this high tech energy here's an example:
2) Water purification and sanitation systems and waste treatment upgrades.
Our area has been doing a massive three decades long project mostly out of sight. These don't necessarily change how existing cities are built but they help correct problems of poorly planned/built infrastructure during industrial age development.
These 'infrastructure' areas would IMO have the greatest impact to the general public:
A. Lower cost / cleaner energy
B. Better water / waste management
C. Communication ease and security
D. More accessible higher speed transit in high density areas
We need to address rising sea levels. Whether or not it’s caused by climate change, it’s happening.
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