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This is a collaborative post.
Government infrastructure plans are massive in scope and effect. When the government cares enough to invest in money-saving technology, my ears open up. Politicians talk about saving money, and when they do it is rare and deserves research to see how I can use it.
An example we can relate to is called an expansion joint. Have you seen a friend’s drive cracked and broken? Physics tells us solid things expand in heat and contract when cooled. When this happens rapidly or over time an expansion joint would allow for that movement without fracture. Similar to tightening or loosening your belt like Mr. Creosote before a wafer-thin mint.
Porous asphalt and self-healing concrete
Have you seen the advances in porous asphalt and self-healing concrete? I guess when technology rises it floats all sectors.
- Porous pavements, blacktops, or asphalt will allow water to pass through for better urban drainage and stormwater control. They are poured over control channels and reservoirs that serve as system surge protectors and provide time for water to seep into the water table.
- Bacteria is mixed into the concrete and poured. Stress and wear cracks will appear. When they do, exposed bacteria react with moisture and excrete calcite, preventing cracks from growing.
- The ultra-futuristic concept of roadways that charge your electric vehicle with induction is becoming a reality. No need for charging stations or large onboard electrical storage cells when the road we drive on provides the power.
3D-printed houses
One solution for future housing needs is 3D-printed housing. Why wait for the future, we need homes now. Our construction industry can not keep pace with family growth rates. Even government-incentivized construction programs are not meeting targets.
Efficient construction
The construction trades workforce is undertrained and understaffed for this demand. Construction materials are unavailable, limited, and expensive. Efficient in construction and low in overhead costs to live in, the printed home market will boom.
Bamboo cities
In the quest for holistic eco-responsibility, bamboo cities of interlocking structures prove more resilient and longer lasting than steel and concrete. Not to mention that it grows and is easily saleable. Thermal inductive smart bricks have a fluid-filled loop that transfers heat energy as the sun passes to regulate internal climate and recover energy.
Eco-friendly skyscrapers
If you have a home with green space around it, you know the benefits of shade trees and home energy efficiency. Creating a canopy to moderate temperatures with vegetation has been used for a long time. New eco-friendly skyscrapers have balconies and terraces of green wrapped around the entire structure creating wildlife sanctuaries, urban air filtration, and reduced impact on utility usage.
Victoria is using our tax dollars in massive infrastructure strategies and plans. You can read the 172-page plan here. They are working on no less than 200 projects including the metro tunnel, North East link, upgrading hospitals (direly needed), levelling rail crossings in a rail revival, West Gate tunnel, suburban and airport rail loops.
I hope they employ every efficiency and new technology to reduce operating and repair costs, while stretching the dollars.