2.+Civil+Infrastructure+Systems

2.1. Chapter Goal
The goal of this chapter is to define civil infrastructure and explain how such systems are related to the social, economic, and environmental issues across different scales and densities. Furthermore the dynamic is explained in that infrastructure systems have an effect on society, economics, and the environment but society, economics, and the environment have an effect on the infrastructure system as well.

2.2 Civil Infrastructure
Civil infrastructure is the basic physical foundation or framework which is necessary for an area of human population to operate as a society. Systems that contribute to civil infrastructures include; transportation, energy, water management, communications, waste management, earth monitoring and measurement networks. Implementation of these complex infrastructure systems requires attention to the economy, environment, and social aspects in which they affect. These three aspects are to always be considered during design, analysis, construction, and management of any civil infrastructure system.

2.2.1 Transportation
Transportation infrastructure includes; highways, roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, airports, seaports, waterways, and non-motorized pathways (bicycle and pedestrian walkways). Transportation affects greatly economic, social, and environmental aspects of the planet. Economically the development of transportation systems creates jobs along with great opportunity for growth due to ease of access from city to city or even just from a place of residence to an employment location. Transportation contributes to the movement of goods from perhaps one country to another. It also can connect us as family and friends which strengths social aspects throughout the globe. Environmentally, transportation does require space to be implemented but with such a growing population it is necessary to have a well-designed transportation infrastructure that can mitigate the destruction of further environment.



2.2.2 Energy
Energy infrastructure involves; generation plants, electrical grids, substations, gas pipelines, renewable energy plants, and the emerging electric vehicle networks for charging electric vehicles. It is worth noting that natural gas wells, drilling oil, and coal mining are classified as part of the industrial sector of the economy. Energy is a considerable contributor to modern human life. Almost everything in this day and age requires energy, but how much energy can the earth give up? Renewable energy is on the rise due to the environmental impact that coal mining/burning and oil drilling have damaged the planet. In the social aspect humans are reluctant to use less energy which then drives the production of energy for economic gain, this leaves the environment to suffer. The awareness of humanity being sustained on earth has risen and this is the driving need for renewable energy sources.



2.2.3 Water
Water management encompasses; drinking water supply, sewage collection, disposal of waste water, drainage systems, irrigation, flood control, snow removal, and coastal management. Water is one of our most precious natural resources. Effective management of this resource and its supporting infrastructure is critical to public health, economic development, and the long-term health of the environment. Water is also an instrumental part of the environment and various types of ecosystems. When addressing any form of water management extreme care is required as to not disturb natural processes that depend on water supply and demand. In regards to some social aspects related to water, it has been proven that waste water can be cleaned to drinking water standards which could then be resupplied to the drinking water infrastructure system for human consumption. This method of producing drinking water in the United States is not practiced mainly because of the societies view on wastewater being contaminated; it's a mental block for most of society. There is plenty of data and research that has been done to prove wastewater being treated for drinking water to be safe but social aspects maintain the process not be utilized. At the rate at which population is growing this process will more than likely become a practice within 30-50 years.



2.2.4 Communications
Communications include; postal service, telephone and mobile phone networks, television, radio, cable communications, internet, satellites, undersea cables, and all other telecommunications both private and government related. Communication can be recognized as the backbone of human success. Without communication the accomplishments of societies would seize to exist. Growing communication and advancing its technology will contribute to the forefront of the success of future humanity. Being able to even have a simple international telephone call, as seen in Figure 2.4, in minutes is important in infrastructure aspects. Communications have a great influence on personal lives as well, such as internet social networks. Communication greatly affects the social aspects of civil infrastructures along with playing an instrumental role in economic growth. The environment does benefit in ways such as people teleworking instead of driving to an office and releasing additional greenhouse gases into the air.



2.2.5 Waste
Waste management involves; municipal garbage and recyclables collection, landfills, incinerators, plasma gasification facilities, material recovery facilities, and hazardous waste disposal. Regardless what the state of waste; solid, liquid, gaseous, or radioactive they all are part of the waste management infrastructure and need to be managed in the best way possible. Management of solid waste is critical to health and wellbeing of civilization. A process similar to waste management is called resource recovery; this process contributes to the sustainability of the planets natural resources and can have a large beneficial impact on the environment. Resource recovery focuses on slowing or delaying consumption of natural resources at a given rate. Waste management varies drastically from developing to developed countries. But most systems involve moving waste from a populated area to either a sorting location for resource recovery or to a landfill of sorts. Shown in figure 2.5 some glass bottles wait for transportation to a glass recycling facility.



2.2.6 Monitoring & Measurment
Earth monitoring and measurement networks; meteorological, tidal wave monitoring, stream gauges, seismometer, satellites, geodetic benchmarks, global positioning systems (GPS), and spatial data infrastructure. This piece of civil infrastructure generally goes unnoticed by the general public, but earth monitoring and measurement networks will always serve a great deal of importance to humans overall wellbeing on the planet. These systems can contribute to other infrastructure systems as well, for instance when constructing a highway alignment calculation can be done relatively fast with satellite data. Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) utilize earth measurement networks constantly, which are then used for such process as flood plain modeling, pipeline layouts for gas or water, watershed analysis, telecommunication right of ways, and many more systems that are implemented for civilization.



2.3 Scale and Density
Developing the ability to design and construct a system (building, community, or city) over a range of scales and densities are becoming a necessary ability for todays engineers. Frameworks have been formulated to help with this process when considering various scales and densities. These frameworks can allow a more in depth evaluation of connectivity between varrying sizes of infrastructures.

2.3.1 Scale
The concept of designing a system based on its scale has become a dominant part of modern design strategies. This process has driven the size of infrastructure systems larger and larger, from interstate highways to centralized water management systems. However, with time these large scale infrastructure systems have become energy exhaustive, degrade the environment, maintain rather large capital to implement, and can perform poorly. These problems with a one size fits all infrastructure system has gained awareness over the years and engineers, city planners, and society in general are looking closely at these infrastructure systems and determining ways that if a smaller scale system is put into place, how would that system be affected itself and how will it fit within larger systems that are currently still in operation around it. Taking a look at how some of these smaller scale infrastructure systems can operate with larger ones by means of designating three different sizes of infrastructures and discuss how they interact with one another. At the smaller end of the spectrum there are single buildings for instance. The next scale could be considered a community or neighborhood system where there are completely separate dwellings but are connected to each other through various types of infrastructure systems. Lastly, the city scale infrastructure which generally includes a much denser area of buildings along with all the communities that come together within the city scale. Recognizing how these various scales come together is important. Understanding that some practices in smaller scales are still utilized in the larger ones, take for example water reuse, on the community scale buildings or homes can implement a water harvesting system for irrigation needs whereas within the city scale reused water can be utilized in recharging an aquifer. Theirs an example of how some of the various scales and densities are interpreted in figure 2.7.



2.3.2 Density
Regardless of the project scale; all buildings, communities, and cities have differing densities within them. In assessing what infrastructure system to apply to a given area it is crucial to be aware of both scale and density of the specific system. For instance a single family dwelling which could utilize a type of septic tank may not be appropriate for a condominium complex or apartment units. Large buildings and high rises can require fuel cells, advanced heating ventalation and air conditioning, and even specialty storm watermanagement systems. Technology becomes a necessity as densities of given areas rise. As a given site exceeds its ability to naturally process the flow of water, energy, and material the need for man-made engineered processes to deal with the increase goes up as well. These man-made engineered processes can handle very large volumes of water, waste, and treating of more material with less time than the natural environment could. The downside to this great benefit is that with the process of so much taking place within such a small footprint includes energy transport to the processing plants, carbon dioxide releases into the air and other waste byproducts. Sustainable design, then, becomes the art of satisfying the same human needs with less energy and materials by increasing efficiency, and also reducing the environmental impact of the energy and materials we do use [4].

2.4 Case Study: Tianji Eco-City Master Plan
What could be considered humanities largest creation? There are definitely many arguable feats of humanities success but when just the physical size of the creation considered is taken into account the on that stands out is cities. Cities are home to the most powerful, political, social, and technological systems created. In the twenty-first century, they have also become, for the first time, home to the majority of our species [5]. The next major hurdle for humanity is securing it's sustainability on the planet. Reinventing how are cities are developed, operate, and exist in harmony with the environment will be the challenge of today as well as the future. As cities infrastructures degrade physically and struggle with limiting resources, economic instability, varying rises of pollution, and increasing population, the reinventing and redevelopment of cities for the sustainable future is necessary. The cities most people inhibit have infrastructures that are reaching the end of their designed life. The fact that infrastructures are soon to be replaced allows engineers, as new systems go in, to design for the future and have systems that can harmonize with social, economic, and environmental aspects of the world. Developing cities in this fashion will increase the possibility of a sustainable global civilization.



Based on the values of people, planet, and profit, Gensler completed an innovated, sustainable master plan for the Sino-Singapore Eco-City near Tianjin, China [6]. The project consisted of six key components; energy, architecture, transportation, place-making, water cycling, and open space. The plan for the Eco-City satisfies of a mix of varying uses which are residential, retail, education, commercial, and a great deal of attention to how these varying scales and densities integrate with one another. Special attention was given to the green open spaces of the project as well. The project started as most do with an exhaustive site evaluation. The site evaluation consisted of understanding existing topography, natural features, climate, surrounding land uses, and cultural context. Cultural context was important to the project; social aspects have suffered in China as economics thrived over passed years. The current sway of the region is coming back to social importance and having ways for people to connect, have family life, and overall create greater life appreciation throughout the area. One major challenge for this project and China in general is the ever growing use of automobiles making transportation a tremendous challenge when trying to implement sustainable cities. To provide a reference for the project, the Gensler team found that the number of cars per person in Tianjin would nearly double between 2008 and 2010 [6]. The goal of the Eco-City was to create an ideal area of sustainable practices that would be the flagship for the region, promoting higher standards for all developments. The project received backing from both Tianjin and Singapore.



2.4.1 Control Targets for Eco-City
Tianjin and Singapore required targets for the project to meet, these were set in place as controls and to help measure the success of the city compared to older cities that had been deemed unsustainable. Within the control targets several sub focus areas were outlined to help guide decision making and refine success.


 * Eco-environmental health: air quality, surface water, tap water, noise reduction, carbon release, wetlands, green buildings, local vegetation, and public green space.


 * Social harmony: water use, sustainable transportation practices, neighborhood amenities, accessibility, waste generation, management, and affordable-housing.


 * Economics and Efficiency: renewable energy to drive development, utilizes nontraditional water sources, technological innovation in R & D, and of upmost importance maintains a balance between housing and employment.


 * Regional coordination: policy for pollution control, health and safety, implementing a recycling program, and understanding allowing cultural elements.

2.4.2 Master Plan Outlined
Gensler's team, after completing scrupulous amounts of analysis, was able to input and build a computer generated model using cutting edge technology, see Figure 2.11. The software used to run real life analysis on the Eco-City was Autodesk's Ecotec, this was very useful when targeting specific bioclimatic design approaches and helped to determine the precise building layout. Computer modeling helped to make road and highway alignment with existing right-of-ways simpler. Ecotec has capabilities that assisted Gensler's team in balancing the control targets that had been the goals of the project by running various simulations. The team used Gensler's own sustainable performance assessment tool to determine the overall impact and design implications of energy, water, and waste management strategies [6]. Specifically, these included resource conservation, renewable energy strategies (such as geothermal, photovoltaic, solar thermal, and biogas), and water cycling strategies (such as segregated water supply, on-site grey water treatment, and black water digesters) [6]. The master plan laid out these systems over given areas to satisfy varying scales and densities with the ability to be phased with time. Lastly in the transportation design the team integrated a sub-surface rail system that connected to the existing rail systems to surrounding cities. They also created mixed use spaces on the surface streets which allowed for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The Tianjin Eco-City is estimated to be fully developed in the early-to-mid 2020's and plans to be home to approximately 350,000 residents.

= 2.5 Chapter Summary =

Civil infrastructure is the basic physical foundation or framework which is necessary for an area of human population to operate as a society. Systems that contribute to civil infrastructures include; transportation, energy, water management, communications, waste management, earth monitoring and measurement networks. The scale of infrastructures for a given project is to be considered in design; using a centralized water treatment center when possibly a septic tank could have satisfied the demand should be kept in mind. Densities of given areas that require infrastructures are to be of upmost concern as well, even if the city is large does not mean that large processing facilities are require if the population is small. The case study of Tianjin Eco-City was looked at, showing that even a highly dense area can be designed and planned accordingly to be a sustainable city. Tianjin Eco-City is on the forefront of sustainable concepts, what we can learn from its conception can be used in forward thinking of sustainable cities here in the United States. For humanity to become a sustainable species as a global civilization, civil infrastructure systems will be required to utilize sustainable concepts.