Infrastructure and Utilities Sites

Now one of two spans that carries Florida State Highway 20 across the Apalachicola River, this bridge, which connects Blountstown in Calhoun County with Bristol in Liberty County, was a federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. (The New Deal span, the more northerly of the two bridges, now carries westbound traffic only.) The bridge was constructed between 1937 and 1938.

Appalachian State University, then known as Appalachian State Teachers College (A.S.T.C), was substantially improved and developed as part of infrastructure and building construction projects on the institution's campus. Numerous New Deal organizations, including the Civil Works Administration (CWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Public Works Administration (PWA), provided labor or funding for the numerous projects undertaken at A.S.T.C. during the Great Depression. At A.S.T.C the CWA: conducted landscaping work; provided office help and laborers; repaired buildings; and installed a chlorinator (presumably for a pool). The FERA: constructed a gymnasium and a library; repaired a basement at...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed sidewalks on the campus of what was then known as Appalachian State Teachers College in Boone, North Carolina.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor repaved Appleton St. in Holyoke, Mass.

Although the New Deal is best known for creation and construction, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) also put unemployed people to work demolishing obsolete structures. In the winter of 1933-34, CWA crews took down the old Aqueduct Bridge, a canal bridge built in 1843 that closed in 1923 when the nearby Key Bridge opened. An abutment of the bridge still remains, overlooking the Potomac Boat Club boathouse.

The following water main was laid as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project: "Arborway, from Pond and Prince streets, to Forest Hills street ..."

In February 1936, to complete the portion of Highway 101 between Cannon Beach and Manzanita, the Oregon Highway Department approved construction plans for a 1227-foot-long tunnel through Arch Cape. The federal Public Roads Administration provided critical funding for the project. At the time of its construction, it was the longest tunnel on the Oregon Coast Highway. Difficulties associated with the long bore through both the cape's sandstone and basalt stretched the construction project out over almost four years. The presence of soft sandstone required the construction of a timber lining to prevent a cave-in. Construction workers struggled with difficult conditions including exposure...

Arch Rock Tunnel is one of three tunnels built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) along the Feather River Highway in northeast California.  The tunnels were the final pieces in the construction of the Feather River highway (highway 70) by the State of California (1928-37). Arch Rock tunnel is the southern-most tunnel of the three and the shortest. The tunnels were blasted through solid granite in and around Grizzly Dome. Rock from the tunnels was used for rock safety walls along the highway.

The 1,121-foot Arch Street Overpass was constructed in 1940. Careful analysis of the bridge plate (plaque) as per historic Google Street View imagery suggests that this project was funded by the Public Roads Administration of the Federal Works Agency; the superstructure appears to have been replaced as of 2018.

The Civil Works Administration carried out repair and maintenance work on the Arecibo Lighthouse Road in Arecibo.

The Civil Works Administration carried out road improvement work in Utuado. The work consisted of widening the curve for the road to Arecibo.

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work in Arenales Altos in Isabela.

The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) resurfaced Argyle Rd. and Dundee Rd. in Arlington, MA. The W.P.A. installed sidewalks along these roads as well.

The New Deal helped construct the 9-mile road from Fort Valley Road (Highway 180) to the Arizona Snow Bowl ski area on Mt. Agassiz in the San Francisco Peaks, northwest of Flagstaff AZ. In the winter of 1938, the 20-30 Club, a Flagstaff service group, held a "snow carnival" on the southwest slope of Mt. Agassiz. It was so successful that the group ran a contest to choose a name for the area, and "Arizona Snow Bowl" was selected. The Coconino National Forest managers saw the opportunity to help advance the ski resort and offered to build a better access road up...

The Arkabutla Dam and reservoir project was the second of three projects for flood control management of the Yazoo-Tallahatchie-Coldwater river systems in Mississippi. The Army Corps of Engineers directed the $10,000,000 project. In order to construct the dam and reservoir, the town of Coldwater had to be relocated a mile further south. Approximately 700 residents were relocated at a cost of $250,000. The earthen dam is 11, 500 feet long, average of 67 feet high, and 482 feet wide at the base. Contracts were let to H. N. Rodgers & Son, Forcum-James, and Pioneer Contracting. Patton-Tully Transportation was awarded a...

Built 1938-39 under the Flood Control Act of 1936, following catastrophic local floods in 1935, and still in use. Federal cost was $1,910,000. C.C.C. built a camp nearby for the construction workers,

The Arlington Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River was completed in 1932, but considerable finishing work remained to be done at each end.  In late 1933, the Washington Post reported that $32,000 was appropriated for the Public Works Administration (PWA) to construct retaining walls for the approaches and sidewalks leading to the bridge on the east (DC) side of the river. The work would have almost certainly been completed in 1934. The wonderful statues on the bridge approach have only a minor New Deal dimension: plans for the statues were drawn up in the 1920s, plaster casts were made in the...

Town annual report: The following work has been done under projects, since April, 1934: Arlington Street from Newtown Road, widening and grading 3600 feet to December 27, using sixteen men, 1 foreman, four trucks from November 8 to December 27.

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) constructed Armory Road, which connects the armory in Sunbury, Pennsylvania to Mile High Road.

Delaware utilized substantial federal resources in developing and improving its road network during the Great Depression. Among the dozens of projects undertaken by the federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) during 1934 was construction along a road from "Reynolds Cor. to Armstrongs Cor." The location or name of the road(s) in question is unknown to Living New Deal. An average of 1,410 were put to work each week during 1934 as a result of the CWA's road, sidewalk, bridge, and other related infrastructure efforts in Delaware.  

The bridge carrying the Jamaicaway over Huntington Avenue, near Brookline, was constructed with NIRA funds. The structure was renamed in 2017 for the sons of Boston Marathon bombing hero Carlos Arredondo.

The WPA was extensively involved in flood control construction in Arroyo Seco during the 1930s. Excerpts of WPA involvement in that history follow: 1934-35: Trapezoidal channel is constructed in the Central Arroyo from Devils Gate Dam through the Rose Bowl area to Holly Street with a soft bottom as part of a CWA, SERA, WPA project. 1935: The Works Progress Administration takes over the gravel operation in LA, designating it as a flood control project sponsored by the city of Los Angeles. Trapezoidal cross-section construction chosen since it minimized steel and lumber and maximized hand labor, satisfying requirements of relief funding. 1935-40: The...

The Annual Report of the Board of the Los Angeles Park Commissioners stated in their 1932-1933 report that the Arroyo Seco Parkway was at the time the third largest park in Los Angeles with 276.1 acres. "A new roadway was built by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation some 1800 feet long which involved the removal of 2000 cubic yards of dirt and the installation of 2600 feet of curbing. General grading consisted of widening and straightening the river channel, placing rip-rap on both banks and using the dirt to fill in areas for lawn and buildings. A group of service buildings...

Both the WPA and the PWA along with a number of local agencies were involved in the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway which was mostly completed by 1940. It is 8.2 miles long with 18 bridges. "The Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) was the first divided-lane, high-speed, limited-access road in the urban western United States and the first stretch of road for what would become the extensive Los Angeles freeway network. The approximately six-mile initial stage of the 8.2-mile roadway, completed in 1940, was envisioned as both a scenic road traversing the Arroyo and a vital traffic conduit linking the...

This narrow concrete sidewalk and stairway connecting Solano Avenue and Academy Road was built by the WPA in 1941. Located along the Arroyo Seco Parkway near the Solano Ave. Elementary School.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) built the Artic Brook Sewer in Bangor ME. The 1934 town report notes: "The Arctic Brook sewer was enclosed from Broadway to Kenduskeag Stream, or a distance of 2600 feet, by a 36 inch sewer, at a cost of $51,530." According to earlier articles, during December, 169 men plus a foreman and blacksmith were employed on the project. A typical pay week would bring $2,153 to the men. "ARTIC SEWER JOB BROUGHT CITY $50,000 More than $37,600 Spent For Labor on First CWA Project" "Approximately $50,000 was spent on the Artic Brook sewer, the oldest CWA project, in point of...

WPA workers built the main sewer in Arvin.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted a project in East Hartford involving "Ash Street grading and surface drain job."

Ashmont St. in Boston, Mass. underwent reconstruction as part of a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project.

In 1933-34, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made improvements at the Aspen Grove Family Camp owned by Brigham Young University. The Aspen Grove camp was established after land was donated to Brigham Young University in 1921 and BYU started an Alpine Summer Camp there in 1922. (https://aspen.byu.edu) Working with BYU, the CCC enrollees planted lawns and installed 5,000 feet of pipe for a new sprinkling system, plus adding parking spaces, stoves, campsites and a new trail (Baldridge, p. 309). The CCC enrollees worked out of Camp F-5 at Granite Flat (Baldridge, p. 309).  The exact location and survival of these improvements is unknown...

The federal Work Projects Administration put many men to work starting in 1935 with a Bronx street repair and maintenance project along roads throughout the borough. The streets, many of which in New York City were still unpaved, were surfaced with penetrated macadam. Roads improved included the 1.1-mile stretch of Astor Avenue between Wallace Ave. and Eastchester Rd.

"Some of the early projects implemented included ... construction of an athletic field on city property near the public slaughter pen. The ... project included a football field and clay baseball diamond with lights."

"The steel structure of the hangar rises from a concrete foundation. Corrugated metal siding clads the walls and very shallow gambrel roof. Large telescopic sliding doors, that extend beyond the original building, dominate the north and south ends. Windows and doors pierce the side (e & w) walls...The hangar originally had a segmental arch roof. Shed roof additions running the length of the side walls created the current roof form. The large end wall doors are also a significant alteration. Property owner Tommy Atkinson deeded airport land to the City of Pittsburg for $1, and solicited CWA funds for the project....

The condition of Atlantic City's primary thoroughfare Atlantic Avenue was so poor that it was occasionally referred to as "no man's land" prior to the federal Works Progress Administration's resurfacing of the road in 1936.

Atlantic City International Airport was "established in 1942 as a Naval Air Station on 4,312 acres leased from Atlantic City." (www.sjta.com) "In 1941, in its attempt to stimulate the local economy, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) had begun clearing a wooded area in Egg Harbor Township for the construction of a municipal airport to service the Atlantic City area. The Works Progress Administration approved $1.5 million for construction (Atlantic City Press/Evening Union 3/28/41). The Project was to employ 1,187 men to cut and clear land for three, one-mile long concrete runways (Atlantic City Press/Evening Union 11/41). Recognizing the airport project as a...

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) developed the Atlantic City Reservoir in Absecon, New Jersey. At one point 1,200 WPA employees were working on the project.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) constructed farm-to-market roads, including Atlantic Street, in Gloucester, Mass.

The Works Progress Administration built seven miles of sidewalks throughout the City of Atmore. This work was part of a WPA city-wide, sidewalk construction program. Pictured are WPA workers carrying out sidewalk construction work on U.S. Highway 31. The approximate cost of the entire program was $8,100.00.

Two major road projects were accomplished by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in Fresno County. The June 15 1933 issue of the Clovis Independent mentions the Auberry Road as one of a few major road projects being submitted by the Board of Supervisors. The February 3, 1934 issue said "Supervisor C. Todd Clark reported Wednesday that it is now planned to improve Millerton road from Friant to Auberry Junction with Funds from the new CWA appropriation." The April 4, 1934 article mentions that the widening of the Auberry Road was going to continue under FERA despite the liquidation of CWA projects.

Multiple projects were "planned, staked out and supervised" by West Hartford's Engineering Department in 1935-6 utilizing Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) and/or Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) labor. One such project involved storm sewer construction along Auburn Road.