CONTEXT
When considering the term “infrastructure,” several adjectives immediately come to mind: “purposeful,” “unsightly,” “performative,” “robust,” “artificial,” “useful,” and “deteriorating.” In simple terms, physical infrastructure can be defined as a purposeful alteration of natural systems constructed by humans for the benefit of humans to address a particular societal need or want. A more honest characterization of the term would include the caveat that the benefit to humans often comes at the expense of nonhumans. Whether it be stacking stones to alter the movement of the waves, erecting bridges and tunnels to enable the passage of vehicles, or excavating large swaths of land so we have a place to put our trash, physical infrastructure is humankind’s attempt to alter, manipulate, and/or dominate nature in an effort to perpetuate its own existence.
But perhaps physical infrastructure is best characterized by contradictions. It is intended to support one form of life (humans) often at the expense of another (nonhumans). Its physical form is a static structure, but its effects ripple outward and are constantly in motion. It is a fixed, long-term solution that rarely accounts for its long-term consequences. It enables life to expand to new areas while removing life from those same areas. It is, far too often, an enduring relic of yesterday, not a tool for meeting the needs of today.
INNER HARBOR
Above all else, physical infrastructure is notorious for its deleterious ecological impact. Moreover, infrastructure’s environmental impact is not restricted to its immediate vicinity. First, there is the material extraction and depletion of resources necessary for the construction of any infrastructure project. Second, there is the movement and displacement of countless tons of soil, resulting in the release of massive amounts of carbon back into the atmosphere. Finally, there is the tremendous amount of fossil fuels consumed in the process of extracting resources, transporting material and equipment, and constructing these large-scale infrastructure systems. Through this combination of material extraction, soil displacement, and fossil-fuel consumption, among other things, humanity’s ever-increasing need for additional physical infrastructure has played and will continue to play a significant role in expediting the climate crisis. This cycle will only perpetuate as the adverse effects of climate change are inevitably addressed with the creation of more infrastructure.
As our research has uncovered, Baltimore Harbor, and particularly the area surrounding Bear Creek and Sparrows Point, is a microcosm of modern society’s reliance on shifting infrastructure to support technological progress and unrestrained human expansion. Fittingly, the region’s economic growth was fueled by the production of steel, a material second only to concrete in its association with large-scale infrastructure projects. More importantly, there are few locations as appropriate for showcasing what is arguably the primary function of physical infrastructure—facilitating and managing movement.
While it may initially seem like an oversimplification, nearly all physical infrastructure has, as a fundamental purpose, some quantifiable effect on movement, in one form or another. In Bear Creek, as elsewhere, groins, jetties, breakwaters, and rip rap seek to alter the movement of waves and sediment; landfills serve as the destination point for the movement of trash and are constructed in such a manner as to prevent its further movement; dredge material containment facilities similarly facilitate the movement of dredge material out of the waterways, thus enabling the continued movement of ships in and out of the harbor; canals and ditches facilitate the movement of water through ostensibly more desirable channels; and bridges facilitate the movement of people and vehicles from one patch of land to another. In all its forms, physical infrastructure exists to alter the natural environment to facilitate the movement of people, water, and materials.
2010
MASONVILLE DREDGED MATERIAL CONTAINMENT FACILITY
DREDGE MATERIAL CONTAINMENT FACILITY
LEGEND
Industrial Landuse
Natural Materials other colors
1960s
COX CREEK DREDGED MATERIAL CONTAINMENT FACILITY
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we recognize the all but essential functions that physical infrastructure performs, and it is beyond debate that physical infrastructure is essential to human survival and societal functioning. However, the fact that we need physical infrastructure to perform certain functions need not mean that we need those functions to be performed in an obstinately arcane manner. Instead of asking how we can alter the natural world in order to facilitate a preferred type of movement, we should be examining what natural processes already exist to provide that same desired outcome. Visually impressive as they may be, there is no reason why new physical infrastructure should continue to rely on technology and techniques that were developed when consideration of long-term consequences was viewed as an impediment to progress. Our current level of understanding of natural processes far surpasses that of prior generations, and it is neither necessary nor prudent to seek to dominate nature in order to meet basic human needs.
As we move forward this semester, we will look for ways to incorporate natural processes into any contemplated infrastructural intervention. We will be guided by an overarching commitment to ecological preservation, restoration, and revitalization, and will use technological innovation as a means of furthering those objectives, not undermining them. We will choose ecology over economics, prudence over progress, diversity over displacement, compassion over convenience, sustainability over subjugation, and adaptation over alteration.
