One of the major problems the country faced on the road to development was the total lack of any infrastructure that would have allowed the expansion of economic activities. Politicians such as Alexandros Mavrokordatos, Epameinondas Deligiorgis and Alexandros Koumoundouros had grasped the significance of these shortcomings but domestic problems - the main one being fiscal constraints - did not permit the implementation of specific measures in this direction. The first to put into practice an ambitious programme for the construction of large public works was Ch. Trikoupis. The programme was successfully implemented and formed the basis for the country's further development. Nevertheless, the amounts spent on the works burdened the state budget and used up a significant proportion of the foreign loans, a fact included among the reasons that led to or at least accelerated the bankruptcy of 1893.

The construction of roads falls into the public works sector. In 1882, Greece had but a mere 1,359 km of carriageways, two thirds of which had been constructed in the Ionian Islands during the period of British rule. The 'Road Construction Fund', which was responsible for the construction of roads, was established in 1862 when Alexandros Koumoundouros was prime minister. But it only went into proper operation and received meaningful funding after 1882, during the Trikoupis administrations. By 1890 the road network had trebled in size and was now over 4,000 km long. It was also in the Trikoupian period that the construction of a railroad network essentially began. Simultaneously, attention was given to the construction of ports, lighthouses and bridges. Post and telegraph services were reorganized under the supervision of a Belgian mission. Finally, two of the most significant works of the period were the draining of Lake Copaida, which was, however, only completed 50 years later, and the opening of the Corinth Canal, which was started in 1882 and completed in 1893.