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  • 12th Street Overpass - Folsom NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds to construct an overpass carrying 12th Street over the railroad in Folsom, N.J. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. Living New Deal believes this structure has since been replaced. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on March 26, 1936, after a re-hearing of the case, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing. Contract for construction was let by the State Highway Department on April 7, 1937 ... Funds from the Bureau of Public Roads were allotted...
  • Adams Avenue Overpass - Temple TX
    The Adams Avenue Overpass is a 285 foot long steel stringer bridge that takes West Adams Avenue over multiple tracks of the former Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (now BNSF Railway) in Temple, Texas. The bridge, which replaced an existing timber trestle structure, consists of six spans of steel I-beams resting on concrete abutments and bents. The United States Bureau of Public Roads provided funding for the bridge through a federal aid grade crossing program. The Texas Highway Department designed the bridge which was built by the Austin Bridge Company between July 1938 and April 1939 at a cost...
  • Anacostia Drive SE Improvements - Washington DC
    Anacostia Drive, which runs through Anacostia Park and alongside the Anacostia River, was almost certainly worked on during the New Deal – more than once – though the evidence is not conclusive.  According to a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project card on file in the National Archives, the WPA office approved a project to grade Anacostia Road (now Drive) in 1935. This work has not been confirmed, but since the WPA did almost $1 million worth of road work in the district in 1935-36, including roads like Good Hope SE, and also did extensive work on Anacostia Park during that time, it...
  • Bachelor Creek Bridge - Terrell TX
    Concrete Cast-in-Place bridge on Griffith Avenue in Terrell, TX. It has a metal plaque at both ends of the bridge which is approx. 108 feet long. Joint project of Texas Highway Department and US Bureau of Public Roads.
  • Belleville Turnpike Grade Separation - Kearny NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for the grade separation of Belleville Turnpike and the Erie Railroad. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project involving two separate grade crossings on which the Board initiated proceedings and on December 12, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossings. Contract for construction was let by the State Highway Department October 6, 1936, and construction was completed in October, 1937." Given extensive development of highways in the area, it is possible that any overpass structures related to this project are no longer extant.
  • Bernard Lown Peace Bridge - Lewiston ME
    One of the 26 bridges in Maine that were destroyed or damaged by the 1936 flood and rebuilt by the US Works Program Flood Relief projects and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, US Dept. of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936. In some cases, labor was provided by the Works Progress Administration. Work was completed in 1937 By Builder/Contractor: Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania The bridge is a metal 8 Panel Rivet-Connected Polygonal Warren Through Truss. Length is 723 feet. Formerly known as the South Bridge, it was re-named for Lewiston son...
  • Big Oak Flat Road - Yosemite National Park CA
    The present Big Oak Flat Road was constructed by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), with Public Works Administration (PWA) funding, between 1935 and 1940.  It is one of  three main roads into Yosemite Valley, along with El Portal road and Wawona road. Big Oak Flat Road is the main entrance road into Yosemite from the north, designated as state highway 120. At Crane Flat, highway 120 follows the Tioga Road toward Tuolumne Meadows and over Tioga Pass.  Big Oak Flat road splits off to head south toward Yosemite Valley.  Highway 120 from Groveland (west of the park) to the park...
  • Bridge Street Viaduct - Jonesboro AR
    Constructed in 1936, the 558-foot, Art Deco-style viaduct on Bridge Street in Jonesboro, Arkansas was an important New Deal-era project in that city. This was part of a larger Works Progress Administration (WPA)-sponsored improvement of the region’s infrastructure. The Arkansas State Highway Commission, with funds provided by the WPA through the Bureau of Public Roads, constructed the $150,000 viaduct that passes over the BNSF Railway, St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. Fred Luttjohann, a Topeka, Kansas bridge contractor received the contract to construct the steel stringer design bridge. At first, local leaders feared there would not be...
  • Bullseye Bridge - Bangor ME
    One of the 26 bridges that were destroyed or damaged by the 1936 flood. A Maine Highway report notes that the reconstruction of these bridges was a U.S. Works Program Flood Relief project and were handled under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Agriculture. All bridges were placed under construction in 1936. Labor was provided on some by the Works Progress Administration. Before the flood, the Bullseye bridge was a wooden covered bridge that was noted for its circular windows which is where it got its name. The 1936 town report notes in the forward that...
  • Bureau of Public Roads Research Center (former) - Alexandria VA
    Newspaper articles from the 1930s report that a mixture of New Deal funds and private spending in the amount of $975,000 were used to construct the Bureau of Public Roads Research Center.  According to the Bureau of Public Roads annual reports, 1937-1939, the new research facilities were constructed on the "Abingdon Plantation," also known as "the old Custis Estate near Gravelly Point."  This area today is roughly where the Washington National Airport parking garages are situated.  A small green area between the two garages is a remnant of the plantation  (the CCC did historic preservation work here). A 1939 Evening Star article says...
  • Burr's Ferry Bridge - Leesville LA
    The Burr's Ferry Bridge is built over the Sabine River where Texas State Highway 63 and Louisiana State Highway 8 meet. The bridge consists of three Parker though truss spans and 34 concrete girder spans. At the time the bridge project was under consideration, the road was an "improved dirt road," reportedly impassable much of the year with a toll ferry across the Sabine River. Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act on April 8, 1935. This act gave Texas and Louisiana grant money for road and bridge construction. Projects funded under this act were subject to special labor provisions. Among...
  • Business U.S. Highway 79 Underpass - Taylor TX
    The Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads built an underpass in 1939 to separate the grade of U.S. Route 79 and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad (currently Business U.S. Highway 79 and Union Pacific Railroad) in Taylor, Texas. The Texas Highway Department designed the bridge and L. H. Lacy Company constructed it.
  • Cass Street Bridge - La Crosse WI
    A New Deal federal aid project, what is now the westbound span of the Mississippi River Bridge in la Crosse, Wisconsin was constructed in 1939-1940. A plaque on the bridge reads: State Highway Commission of Wisconsin Bridge No 300 1939 Federal-Aid Project 397-G Built in cooperation with U.S. Bureau of Public Roads
  • Central Avenue Underpass - Westfield NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for the grade separation of Central Avenue and the Central Railroad of New Jersey, in Westfield. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on October 2nd, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing. Construction started April 13, 1936, and the project was opened to traffic October 9, 1937. Funds from the Bureau of Public Roads were allotted to meet the entire cost of construction. Costs of property acquired and of property damage are shared equally by the State and Railroad Company."
  • Charles C. Glover Memorial (Massachusetts Ave) Bridge - Washington DC
    The Massachusetts Avenue bridge was built in 1940-1941 by the Army Corps of Engineers with federal funds provided by Congress to the District of Columbia Commissioners.  It was a final step in the completion of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway in the New Deal era.  The new bridge replace a low earth-fill causeway over the creek, built in 1901, and a tunnel under the causeway that impeded traffic on the new Rock Creek parkway.  Congress appropriated $360,000 for the bridge under the District of Columbia act of 1939.  Additional funding was added in 1941 to dynamite the old bridge and...
  • Charter Way Railroad Underpass - Stockton CA
    Stockton, California’s Charter Way railroad underpass was constructed with the aid of federal funds during the Great Depression. The underpass is still in use today. "At Charter Way, U. S, 50, crossed at grade a total of eight separate railroad tracks, one of the Western Pacific and seven of the Southern Pacific, all within a distance of five hundred feet. Design studies were made to determine the most satisfactory structure for the problems involved, which included the separation of the highway and eight railroad tracks and the maintenance of accessibility to adjoining improved property. To this end an undergrade...
  • Cholteca Bridge - Cholteca Honduras
    The November 1935 issue of California Highway & Public Works reported on New Deal work in the country of Honduras. "PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT has approved a program of bridge construction work on the route of the Inter-American highway in Central America, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in charge of activities on the highway announces, Congress in June 1934, appropriated $1,000,000 to meet such expenses as the President in his discretion may deem necessary to enable the United States to cooperate with the several governments, members of the Pan-American Union, in connection with survey and construction of the proposed Inter-American Highway, As...
  • Comly Road Overpass - Lincoln Park NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for the construction of a span to carry Comly Road over the railroad in Lincoln Park, New Jersey. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on October 2nd, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing. Construction started April 14, 1936, and the project was opened to traffic in January, 1937. Funds from the Bureau of Public Roads were allotted to meet the entire cost of construction."
  • Davis Landing Bridge - Yarmouth ME
    1 of 26 bridges that were rebuilt by the New Deal following a 500 year flood in March 1936. The bridge is a Concrete slab structure over the West Branch of the Cousins River. From the design of the guard rails, it looks as if the New Deal bridge was replaced recently. The abutments however look to be of an older design utilizing cut granite, possibly from 1917 when the state replaced an "extremely dangerous" bridge. According to a 2004 Maine DOT Historic Bridge Survey, Phase II Final Report & Historic Context, the "March 1936 flood was one of the most...
  • Deans Lane Underpass - Monmouth Junction NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for the construction of an underpass carrying Deans Lane under the railroad in South Brunswick Township. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on December 4th, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the crossings. This, order was later modified on June 29, 1937, to eliminate the Deans Road crossing on its present alignment. Contract for construction of the project was let by the State Highway Department on August 4, 1937. ... Funds...
  • Desert View Drive Guardrail - Cameron AZ
    In 1937, the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) provided a grant to contractor, G. Clay Gates, to build a metal guardrail on part of the Cameron-Desert View approach road to Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. "G. Clay Gates, Thermopolis, Wyo., $18,122 low to Bureau of Public Roads, Phoenix, Arizona, for performing the work for placing metal plate guardrail on Sections A, B, C, D, and E of the Cameron-Desert View Approach Road to Grand Canyon National Park, Coconino County, Arizona."  Western Construction News. There are still guard rails along much of Desert View Road, but the road has pretty clearly been...
  • Dewey Avenue Overpass - Wharton NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for the construction of a bridge carrying Dewey Avenue over the railroad in Wharton N.J. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on October 5, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing Construction started April 23, 1936, and work under contract was finished in January, 1937."
  • Deweyville Swing Bridge - Deweyville TX
    The Deweyville Swing Bridge is built over the Sabine River where Texas State Highway 12 and Louisiana Highway 12 meet. The bridge is a deck plate girder swing design. The 160 foot main span pivots on top of a central pillar. Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act on April 8, 1935. This act gave states grant money for road and bridge construction. The bridge opened on March 10, 1938. The bridge is opened manually by workers using a massive T-wrench inserted in a hole in the middle of the bridge and turned. Regular openings of the bridge ceased in the 1960s...
  • E Street NW Paving - Washington DC
    In 1941, the Washington Post reported the start of a $1,158,000 road paving program carried out by the Public Roads Administration division of the Federal Works Administration (FWA). One of the streets slated to be paved was E Street between 21st and 22nd Streets, NW. That stretch of E Street has been modified by subsequent construction of the E Street Expressway.
  • Erie Railroad Grade Separations (no longer extant) - Little Falls NJ
    The New York Times reported in 1935: "TWO grade crossings of the Erie Railroad on Routes 6 and 23 at Singac, Passaic County, N.J., will be eliminated under a contract for which bids have been received by Highway Commissioners Arthur F. Foran and James Baker. Funds appropriated through the United States Bureau of Public Roads under the NRA will be used for the project." The infrastructure relating around Routes 6 (now 46) and 23 in the area has been extensively modified since the time of these projects, and the bridges are no longer extant.
  • Fall River Road to Trail Ridge Road Connector - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    A 2.1 mile segment of road was built in 1933-34 between the Fall River Road entrance and the junction with Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, completing a key link in the park's highway system.  The work was performed by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) with financing by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in the amount of $32,000 and incidental labor by relief workers from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Fall River Road was the original entrance on the park's eastern boundary for access to Horseshoe Park.  Fall River Road was extended by...
  • Falls County Roadside Park - Marlin TX
    Federal funds supported the construction of the Falls County Roadside Park in Marlin TX, on highway No. 6, south of Big Creek.  They most likely came from the Bureau of Public Roads to the Texas Highway Department, but that needs to be verified. "Shrubs, ornamental bushes and flowers will be placed along the highway for almost a quarter of a mile in the vicinity of the park, according to present plans. The park is being put in by the highway department with funds allotted by the federal government. The ground for the park was donated by J. G Bargnier, owner of...
  • Figueroa Street Viaduct - Los Angeles CA
    "FOR, many years the city of Los Angeles has felt the need of an additional through traffic highway to the north to relieve congestion on North Broadway. Figueroa Street, one of the main north and south arterials in the city was the logical street to be extended. A barrier formed by the Elysian Park hills and the Los Angeles River made this undertaking very expensive. However, the project has been carried forward one step at a time as funds became available. The first step was taken in 1928 when plans were ordered for the first tunnel under Elysian Park. The final...
  • Firestone Boulevard Railroad Overpass - Los Angeles CA
    "FOUR grade separation projects were recently completely in Los Angeles. These projects have a been financed from funds set aside by the Federal Government to be used on grade separation projects. On these projects the State acted as an agent for the Federal Government, contracting and supervising the construction. The projects were intended to relieve labor and carried the condition that as far as practical, labor was to come from the relief rolls and that labor be confined to one hundred thirty hours per month. It also stipulated that railroad work could be done by the railroad forces." "The Firestone Boulevard Grade...
  • Fish House Bridge - Bar Harbor ME
    A Bureau of Public Roads project, "Fish House Bridge was built to provide a grade separation for a small access road to a boat landing used by local fishermen in the Otter Creek area. The bridge is faced in native granite and is distinguished by its semicircular arch. -- Historic American Engineering Record"
  • General Improvements - Yosemite National Park CA
    The New Deal vastly improved Yosemite National Park in California, which has long been the showpiece of the national park system.  Several federal agencies operated in the park from 1933 to 1942, under the general supervision of the National Park Service: the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Public Works Administration (PWA), and Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), plus the short-lived Civil Works Administration (CWA)  (December 1933 to April 1934). Major works around Yosemite are detailed in the various site pages listed on the right. Nevertheless, some of the immense amount of work done during the New Deal cannot be pinpointed, so we...
  • Glacier Point Road - Yosemite National Park CA
    The federal Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA), built the 15.7 mile Glacier Point Road from Chinquapin Flat on the Wawona Road to Glacier Point, 1933-35. This project was part of a complete overhaul of Yosemite National Park roads carried out under the New Deal in the 1930s. The Glacier Point Road replaced a primitive saddle road built in the 1870s. Surveys for the route were done in 1930-31 and grading began in 1932. Then, funding for the project became available through the National Industrial Recovery Act, which created the PWA.    "The new road was to...
  • Grade Separation - Estell Manor NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for a grade separation project, carrying "Jimmy Lee Crossing" over the railroad in Estell Manor, N.J. It is possible that is now Tuckahoe Rd. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department'' project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on February 4, 1936, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing. Contract for construction was let by the State Highway Department on January 11, 1937, and construction was completed in September, 1937."
  • Grade Separation - Great Meadows NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for the separation of "Creamery Road" (now Rte. 46) and the railroad in Great Meadows, New Jersey. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on October 8, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing Contract for construction was let by the State Highway Department in September, 1936, and construction was completed in January, 1937. Funds from the Bureau of Public Roads were allotted to meet the entire...
  • Grade Separation - Pennington NJ
    The Bureau of Public Roads provided funds for a grade separation project involving "Franklin Ave." and the railroad in Pennington, N.J. However, since no crossing at this location is extant, it is possible that they mean the Broemel Pl. underpass. The project was undertaken as part of a larger grade crossing elimination initiative during that era. New Jersey Board of Public Utility Commissioners: "A "Works Program-State Highway Department" project on which the Board initiated proceedings and on October 2, 1935, issued an order to eliminate the grade crossing. Construction started in October, 1936, and the project was completed in November, 1937. Funds from...
  • Grade Separation Underpasses - Dalhart TX
    A set of grade-separation underpasses was constructed in 1939 with the assistance of the United States Bureau of Public Roads. Two underpasses allow railroad traffic to span Denrock Ave.; one underpass brings Railroad St. (U.S. 87) under rail traffic. Multiple plaques on site read: C.R.I.&G. AND F.W. & D.C. RY. UNDERPASS Built in 1939 by the Texas Highway Department --- United States Bureau of Public Roads --- State Highway Commission Brady Gentry - Chairman Harry Hines - Member Robert Lee Bobbitt - Member   Julian Montgomery Highway Engineer   R. R. Tway Contractor
  • Grand Avenue Improvements - Santa Ana CA
    In 1935, one mile of Glassell Street in Santa Ana, California, was graded and paved between Seventeenth Street and Fairhaven Avenue using a federal grant of $50,000. The name of this section of the road is now called North Grand Avenue. The funds surely came through the Bureau of Public Roads to the California State Highway Department, which passed it on to the City of Santa Ana.  (This needs to be confirmed). This would have been part of a larger annual grant to the state for road building. Almost certainly this stretch of road has been repaved and improved since the New...
  • Grand Loop Road - Yellowstone WY
    "9.979 miles of grading, etc. Grand Loop Highway, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, by Bureau of Public Roads, Denver to James Crick, Spokane WA, $324,506"
  • Grassy Creek Bridge - Navasota TX
    The Grassy Creek Bridge is a stringer type bridge that carried Texas State Highway 105 over Grassy Creek in Grimes County, Texas southeast of Navasota. The bridge was designed and financed by the Texas Highway Department and the United States Bureau of Public Roads and built in 1934 by Edwin Artmann, contractor. A new bridge was built southwest of the old Grassy Creek Bridge and Highway 105 realigned to it. The old bridge is blocked to traffic. It is accessible by foot or bicycle but not attached to any trail or walkway.
  • Guadalupe River Bridge - Cuero TX
    The Guadalupe River bridge was built to replace a truss bridge built by DeWitt county in 1887 because the bridge suffered a "light load capacity and inadequate roadway width." Planning for the new bridge began with two preliminary site inspections by the Texas Highway Department (THD) conducted on July 15 and November 12, 1936, with the participation of United States Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) engineers. Rather than use a standard design, THD bridge engineers specially designed the bridge's riveted Parker truss span. The cost estimate was $310,700. THD submitted the estimate and the BPR approved it and appropriated 1937 Regular...
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