Includes bibliographical references (pages 531-544) and index.

Preface -- Out of the earth -- Waterworks -- Food and farming -- Oil and gas -- Power plants -- Power grid -- Communications -- On the road -- Railroad -- Bridges and tunnels -- Aviation -- Shipping -- Wastes and recycling -- Afterword: World we've made -- Acknowledgments -- Further reading -- Index. Overview: Replete with the author's striking photographs, the revised and expanded edition of Infrastructure is a unique and spectacular guide to all the major "ecosystems" of our modern industrial world. In exploring railroad tracks, antenna towers, highway overpasses, power lines, coal mines, nuclear power plants, grain elevators, oil refineries, steel mills, and more, Brian Hayes reveals how our familiar and often-overlooked industrial environment can be as dazzling as nature. With a new chapter reflecting on recent natural and technological disasters-from Hurricane Katrina to the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors- Infrastructure is a compelling and clear guide for those who want to explore and understand this mysterious world we've made for ourselves.