Infrastructure is “all of the stuff that you don’t think about”

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This quote from Deb Chachra caught my attention, in Tim Hartford’s piece In Broken Britain, even the statistics don’t work. Partly because I think she’s spot on for the majority of people, but also because I wonder at times if I think too much about this sort of thing!

For example, already having Deb’s book, How Infrastructure Works: Transforming our shared systems for a changing world on my reading list. And the fact that the cover features utility markings which I’ve long been a fan of documenting.

Photo one of a messy city pavement, of misaligned and cracked slabs and concrete, with spray markings on them. Vertical lines and dots in red and yellow and only the words EXTRA CARE and APPROX are really eligible English
A second cracked and messy looking pavement, with white spray paint this time, showing four circles and a bendy line above the word BLOCKED
A third and final pavement photo, with yellow, blue, white and red paint markings but only two arrows and two question marks really make sense

Though, never in quite as much detail as 99% Invisible, who did a great deep dive into Colorful Language: Decoding Utility Markings Spray-Painted on City Streets, as part of their The 99% Invisible City book a few years back.

Black and white illustration, with a few yellow highlights, of a view from perhaps a 3rd story building window, looking down at a city street with graffiti like markings all over it
Utility Markings by Patrick Vale

And speaking of podcasts about invisible infrastructure and details the majority of people don’t think about, In Praise of Maintenance is the Freakonomics episode that I think I’ve recommended most over the years.

Also recommended a ton of times, is the Practical Engineering YouTube Channel which I was delighted recently to get my kids into 😊. And bringing that full circle to the actual point if Tim’s piece above, here’s a great Practical Engineering video about gathering data from bridges.

Last word to Deb Chachra again (and a sentiment I would relate directly to the practice of design):

Infrastructure is an extraordinary collective achievement and a triumph of long-term thinking.