What is "public works"

Public \Pub"lic\, a. [L. publicus, poblicus, fr. populus people: cf. F. public. See People.]

1. Of or pertaining to the people; belonging to the people; relating to, or affecting, a nation, state, or community; -- opposed to private; as, the public treasury.

   To the public good Private respects must yield.
   --Milton.

   He [Alexander Hamilton] touched the dead corpse of the public credit, and it sprung upon its feet.
   --D. Webster.

2. Open to the knowledge or view of all; general; common; notorious; as, public report; public scandal.

   Joseph, . . . not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
   --Matt. i. 19.

3. Open to common or general use; as, a public road; a public house. ``The public street.'' --Shak. public act or public statute (Law), an act or statute affecting matters of public concern. Of such statutes the courts take judicial notice. Public credit. See under Credit. Public funds. See Fund, 3. Public house, an inn, or house of entertainment. Public law.

   1. See International law, under International.

   2. A public act or statute.

      Public nuisance. (Law) See under Nuisance.

      Public orator. (Eng. Universities) See Orator, 3.

      Public stores, military and naval stores, equipments, etc.

      Public works, all fixed works built by civil engineers for public use, as railways, docks, canals, etc.; but strictly, military and civil engineering works constructed at the public cost.

n. Technical projects, often construction or engineering, carried out by the government on behalf of the community.

n. structures (such as highways or schools or bridges or docks) constructed at government expense for public use

Public works (or internal improvements historically in the United States) are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, schools, hospitals), transport infrastructure ( roads, railroads, bridges, pipelines, canals, ports, airports), public spaces ( public squares, parks, beaches), public services ( water supply, sewage, electrical grid, dams), and other, usually long-term, physical assets and facilities. Though often interchangeable with public infrastructure and public capital, public works does not necessarily carry an economic component, thereby being a broader term.

Public Works is a 2015 Dutch drama film directed by Joram Lürsen. It was based on the book of the same name by Thomas Rosenboom about the troubled construction of the Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam. It was listed as one of eleven films that could be selected as the Dutch submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.