Public Works 101

Public works is the business of taking care of and operating public infrastructure

Each day, most of us living in developed countries rely on the following services:

• drinking water
• electricity
• roads to drive on
• sidewalks to walk on
• parks to play in
• collection of rainwater to prevent flooding of roads and our properties
• collection of wastewater from our homes and businesses
• collection of garbage from our homes and businesses

All of these services are brought to you by your local public works department. Even if some of the services are contracted out to private companies, the public works department usually is responsible for making sure the work is done.

You can find out more about public works by exploring this section of the Public Works Group Website. If you have a specific question related to public works and can't find the answer here, just click on the Help Desk and send us your question. While we can't help with specific issues in your community, we might be able to offer some general tips to get you started in the right direction.