> as it was a nightmare to replace.

I suspect this is the problem with all aging infrastructure; 100 years ago or more, water, sewage and electricity was deployed everywhere, but then they just kept building and rerouting and now the systems have become unmaintainable.

I wonder if this has improved in any way since then in newly constructed areas / cities. I'm thinking a service tunnel underneath roads with all the pipes and lines clearly marked and installed in a highly accessible fashion. Said service tunnel can also be used for daring heists and escapes and the like.