Service	Supporting Infrastructures
Transportation	Roads, bridges, tunnels, rail tracks, ports, harbors, airports, distribution centers, etc.
Water Supply	Dams, reservoirs, pipes, treatment plants, etc.
Water Disposal	Sewers, used water treatment plants, etc.
Irrigation	Dams, reservoirs, canals, sprinkling systems, etc.
Garbage Disposal	Landfills, incinerators, recycling facilities, compost units, etc.
Telecommunications	Telephone exchanges, telephone lines, oceanic cables, cellular towers, fiber optic cables, web servers, etc.
Power	Power plants, transmission & distribution lines, etc.

Source: adapted from R. Prud’homme (2005) Infrastructure and Development, in F. Bourguignon and B. Pleskovic, (eds). Lessons of Experience (Proceedings of the 2004 Annual Bank conference on Development Economics). Washington: The World Bank and Oxford University Press, pp. 153-181. 

Services and their Associated Infrastructures

Infrastructures are capital goods that are not directly consumed and serve as support to the functions of a society (individuals and corporations). They service a derived demand, that is they exist to fulfill needs (e.g. transportation; the need for mobility, power; the need to supply energy for machines). Most have long-life spans as they are designed to last and be resilient, but tend to have high maintenance costs. Once they are constructed, they are fixed to their location, used or not, implying that infrastructures are particularly prone to market failure. It is difficult to provide them in an incremental manner, so they are "lumpy" capital investments.

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