Topic 2:

Definition Transportation Infrastructure Communication Infrastructure Utilities Infrastructure -

Infrastructure:

A collective term that refers

to all of the elements in place
(publicly- or privately-owned
goods) to facilitate
transportation,
communication, and business
exchanges.
Or, The basic facilities, services,
and installations needed for the
functioning of a community or
society, such as transportation
and communications systems,
water and power lines, and
institutions

Transportation Infrastructure:
Port Infrastructure

Port Infrastructure

Cranes
Cranes are critical in a ports ability to load ever-larger
ships.
Berths
The locations in a port where the ships are loaded and
unloaded.
Most berths are traditional - ship is loaded from one
side only. Amsterdam has an indented berth, where
ships are loaded from both sides.
Port Capacity
The ability of a port to handle a certain amount of
cargo volume. Many ports are now constrained by their
lack of capacity. Commonly measures in TEUs.

Port

Depth of Water / Draft

the vertical distance between the

waterline and the bottom of the hull
(keel).

Bridge Clearance
Space between bridge and water.
Port Operations
Hours of operation, union rules,
and overall organization.
Warehousing Space
The amount of warehouse storage
space (covered, non-covered,
refrigerated) influences operations.

Port Infrastructure

Connections with Land-Based Transportation Services

Ports connections to the remainder of the country's
transport infrastructure are critical.
Ports are generally between the sea and large cities
(Los Angeles, New York, Santos, Hong Kong). How
about Malaysia?
The strain on road and railroad infrastructures has
become the bottleneck of popular ports.

Canals and Waterways

Infrastructure

Canals are critical to

international
transportation.
However, they are limited
by the size and capacity
of their locks.

The Panama Canal

Airport Infrastructure

Runways
The number, length and design of the runways
determine the type of aircraft and the capacity of an
airport.
Some airports are land-locked: Hong-Kong could not
expand Kai-Tak and built a new airport, Chek-LapKok on an artificial island instead.
Hours of Operation
Warehousing Space

The Approach at Kai-Tak Airport in Hong Kong

An airport next to a city.

Airport Infrastructure

Rail Infrastructure

Multi-Modal Emphasis
The creation of the multi-modal container has
eliminated the need to load and unload merchandise
from the traditional boxcars.
The congestion of roads has worsened.
Concerns about pollution and noise have increased.
Land Bridges
A term coined to describe the practice of shipping
goods from Asia to Europe through the United States,
by taking the containerized goods to a West Coast
port, loading them onto trains, transporting them
across the United States, and loading them again on a
ship from an East Coast port.
Shippers avoid the costs and delays of crossing the
Panama Canal.

Railway Infrastructure

Road Infrastructure

Quality

Total length of roads.

The percentage of these roads that are paved.

Capacity

Bridges, tunnels, volume of traffic.

Warehousing
Infrastructure

Warehousing infrastructure
should concern the protection
of the goods when they are
waiting while in transit.

The backbone of the

communications system upon which
various broadcasting and
telecommunication services are
operated.
This can be built from copper cable,
fiber, or wireless technologies
utilizing the radio frequency
spectrum, such as microwave and
satellite.
The infrastructure is the core
component that connects upstream
production, such as voice, data and
audiovisual services, with
downstream consumers.

Mail Services

The ability of the postal services to deliver mail on time,

reliably and safely, has not been achieved in every
corner in the world.

Telecommunications Services

Primary concern about reliability in some fast grown

countries.
Some countries will skip a particular technology to
adopt the most recent one available. A policy called
leap-frogging.

Electricity

the presence and flow

of electric charge
Electricity is not always
reliably available in the
world.

Water Supply and Sewer

Water supply and quality of water

is a concern in many countries
worldwide.
The infrastructure designed to
remove used water is critical and
often a problem as well.

Water Supply

For house.

For industrial purposes.

For agricultural purposes.

Water sources
Catchment site
Plant/treatment
Main distribution system
Reservoir
Secondary distribution system
End distribution point

Sewer and drainage