Infrastructure and Utilities Sites

This project, sponsored by the PWA, was intended to provide work and to improve the sanitary condition of farms homes in terms of toilet facilities. Men were put to work throughout county building “bungalows” which were later moved onto farms, where the owners or renters had applied for them. The only cost to the farmer was for materials for the privies.

Due to the proximity of this bridge to the designated Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) culvert, both of which are on Blakely Avenue, we feel certain that this bridge is also of WPA construction. This bridge crosses Rush Creek twenty feet east of the WPA culvert. As is sometimes the case, these bridges do not have the WPA shield affixed, however, their style and construction is identical to those that do have the shield.

This culvert was constructed by the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938. It is located on the east side of town, on Blakeley Avenue (east of the tracks). this culvert flows north/south and carries run-off from Rush Creek. The tunnel measures approximately 3 ft. high by 8 ft. wide. On the culvert curbing, the WPA stamp shows 1938.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge in Russell Springs, Kansas during the 1930s. The location and status of the project are currently unknown to Living New Deal.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) played an important role in the construction of highway 1 along the California coast during the 1930s – most famously along the Big Sur coastline. WPA crews also worked on highway 1 in Mendocino County, where they built three new bridges  — Jack Peters Creek bridge, Russian Gulch bridge and Jughandle Creek bridge.  Russian Gulch bridge, completed in 1939, is 527 feet long, with a central span of 240 feet.  It is an open-spandrel concrete arch design. It is similar in design to the more famous Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur, but its arch has no...

In the winter of 1933-34, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided relief labor for repairs to the jetty at the mouth of the Russian River at Jenner, California.  The CWA work was a minor contribution to a jetty construction project that had begun in 1929 and would continue off and on until 1948.  Funds were sought from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1938, but the State of California stepped in with money, instead. In brief, a jetty was built between 1929 and 1931, but was almost immediately damaged by waves and storms, so repairs continued to be made through 1935....

The federal Public Works Administration helped to finance a large jetty construction project in Rye Harbor, New Hampshire. The PWA provided a $126,000 grant toward the project, whose construction occurred between 1938 and 1939. (PWA Docket No. NH 1090.) A local 1939 newspaper reported that: "A meeting of the Rye Harbor Development Commission was held yesterday... Matters were taken up pertaining to dredging operations at Rye Harbor and the National Guard encampment in preparation for a bill which will be placed before the legislature. It was brought out at the meeting that this project is one of the few undertakings being...

The bridge carrying Rye Hill Road over Prairie Creek, between Greenwood and Fort Smith, Arkansas, was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) in 1941.

The Rye Patch Dam lies in the Humboldt River valley, which crosses Nevada from east to west.  The California Trail went along the Humboldt River and the Lovelock Valley has been a gateway for gold and silver prospectors since the 1860s. It has also been home to irrigated farming, which benefitted greatly from the New Deal of the 1930s. The Bureau of Reclamation constructed Rye Patch dam in 1935-36, as part of the larger Humboldt Reclamation Project.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did ancillary work during the final stage of construction of the dam, clearing acres of brush in and around the reservoir...

In 1939, a dead-end wall was constructed at the south end of Kansas Avenue in Salina, Kansas by youths who were employed by the National Youth Administration (NYA). The NYA was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that focused on training, employing, and educating young people between the ages of 16 and 25. Chris Cotten, Parks and Recreation Director of the City of Salina, Kansas tells us that "n April 1939 the Salina Journal reported that 35 NYA youths, working part time and using rubble masonry, were hired to construct 'ten dead-end walls' on streets that terminated at the Smoky Hill River....

In 1939, a dead-end wall was constructed at the south end of Penn Avenue in Salina, Kansas by youths who were employed by the National Youth Administration (NYA). The NYA was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that focused on training, employing, and educating young people between the ages of 16 and 25. Chris Cotten, Parks and Recreation Director of the City of Salina, Kansas tells us that "n April 1939 the Salina Journal reported that 35 NYA youths, working part time and using rubble masonry, were hired to construct 'ten dead-end walls' on streets that terminated at the Smoky Hill River....

The Works Progress Administration built sidewalks on S. Canal Street in Sharpsburg PA.

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out repair and maintenance work in Sabana Grande in Lajas.

The airport originally opened in 1930 as the Sutterville Aerodrome. Today's main terminal building was built in 1955, but several of the airport's other corrugated iron buildings are left over from work the WPA did on the site.

WPA funding in Sacramento "included 220 miles of highway; 46 public buildings; and new runways at local airports." - https://en.wikipedia.org The Del Paso bridge pictured below was built by a New Deal agency.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out flood control works on the Sacramento River across twenty counties in Northern California, beginning in 1939. The project was sponsored by the State of California Department of Public Works and the work was performed by WPA relief workers. The estimated labor for the project was 480,592 federal man-hours. The scope of the project was broad, including cleaning levees and channels of brush, repairing and improving levees, replacing drainage systems and reconstructing appurtenant structures like bridges, weirs and levee roads. The exact sites where this work was done cannot be determined without further research -- if ever.  

The historic Saddle Creek grade separation underpass in Omaha, Nebraska, at the crossing of Dodge St. and Saddle Creek Rd., was constructed with the help of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and completed in 1934. (Construction is sometimes mis-attributed to the WPA.)

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked on a land reclamation and shore beautification project on the south shore of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. As part of the project Water Street was improved and an all-new road, then named Raritan Parkway but now called Sadowski Parkway, was constructed by federal labor. Along the new road 8,800 feet of sidewalks were laid and 9,225 feet of curbing was installed.

The Sagamore Bridge across the Cape Cod Canal was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and funded by the Public Works Administration (PWA).  It was part of a much larger project that included widening the canal and three bridges across it, for which the PWA made a grant of $6,138,000. The project began in 1933 and the bridge opened in June 1935.  The Sagamore Bridge carries four lanes of traffic on U.S. Route 6 across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the mainland of Massachusetts. The bridge's main span is 616 feet long, with a 135 foot clearance.    

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains, two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of the...

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many "sky islands" of southern Arizona. The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP - Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of...

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of the sewage disposal plant in Saint Albans. The work involved building the main structure and the settling tanks. Docket No. 4744-(Vt.). The exact location of this facility is unknown to the Living New Deal.  

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completed a small stone bridge over a stream bed in 1936.

In conjunction with landscaping efforts around the newly completed Medford City Hall, the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) widened Salem Street "which passes Medford City Hall 12 feet for a distance of 200 feet."

The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration built a road segment connecting Salinas to Cayey.

The Salmon Bay Bridge was constructed under the New Deal in 1934.

“This provides for the control of floods at the town of Hyder by the reconstruction of 681 feet of existing dike, construction of 3,653 feet of new dike, and clearing of the flood plain west of the present channel.” $34,231.20 allotted by PWA

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved roads in Plattsburgh, New York in 1936.  The WPA worked in Salmon River Road between what were, at the time, Peru Rd. to Lake Shore Rd. Living New Deal believes that this particular stretch of road is no longer extant.

Camp Stuart, Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) Company #1194, operated between July 8, 1935 and May 31, 1937. It conducted development work at the newly-established Salmon River State Park. Work included construction of one mile of truck trails, "the clearing of miles of cross-country ski trails," and dam construction.

Originally named the Willamette Highway Tunnel, the 905 feet-long Salt Creek Tunnel completed the Oregon Forest Highway Project that ran through remote areas of the Willamette National Forest to link US Highway 99 near Eugene with US 97 on the east side of the Cascades. The Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) designed the tunnel and its masonry rock portals and contracted with the Portland firm Orino-Birkemeier & Saremai to construct the project in December 1937. The length of the tunnel along with the remote location and rugged terrain introduced challenges with its construction. Oregon Department of Transportation historian Robert Hadlow notes...

Record flooding of the Salt Fork Red River occurred on June 15, 1938, damaging the bridge for then State Highway 52 (now State Highway 203). Deemed unsalvageable by Texas Highway Department Engineers, plans were made for a replacement bridge. The funds for the bridge were jointly allocated by the Texas Highway Department and the Federal Works Agency, each of which committed $80,000. The new bridge was built seventy-five yards north of the previous bridge. This new location was chosen for its stable red clay and shale bedrock which would help prevent future flood damage. When letting for the contract was concluded,...

WPA crews contributed to expanding Salt Lake City Municipal Airport, now Salt Lake City International. From the Salt Lake City International Airport history site: "At a cost of $52,000, Salt Lake City built an airport administration building that housed a passenger waiting room, mail room, airport manager's office, lunch room, weather observatory, radio control room and leased office space to airlines. A third runway was also added." It is unclear if the administration building survives today, but judging from the Salt Lake Tribune's 2015 photo retrospective, it appears to have been replaced with today's modern structure.

Richard R. Lyman was a civil engineer and the vice-chairman of the Utah State Road Commission from 1908-1919. During the 1930s he was a member of an American Society of Civil Engineers commission that developed a grid system for street numbering to make it possible for any traveler to find an address in any city without the help of a map. In June 1936, Salt Lake County adopted the "Lyman System" of designating street names. Instead of the then-current system of designating a street with a name such as "Thirty-third South," the new signs bore the inscription "3300 S". The work...

"The Salt River Canyon Bridge spans one of the most dramatic canyons in Arizona. It was funded by the Public Works Administration, designed in 1933 by architect Lee Moor, and completed in June 1934. The bridge is a single-span steel arch. The design of the bridge approach was highly complex because of the multiple curvatures. Its Art Deco superstructure shines in the sunlight and is still one of Arizona's most visibly striking, engineered structures. Today the bridge carries only pedestrian traffic; a newer, wider version that sits adjacent handles automobile and truck traffic on Highway 60."

The Salt River Project is the source of energy for most of this area, providing affordable electricity, and electricity in general for large geographical areas. "1935-1938: In an effort to supplement its workforce during the Depression, SRP contracted with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to conduct maintenance and construction work on the canal system. The CCC crews typically completed projects including: building fences, creating trails for trucks, constructing levees or dykes, clearing laterals, lining and piping waterways, or upgrading water control structures with stone masonry or rubble lining. In less than three years, men from the CCC worked with SRP and...

“$50,000 water supply project at Charlotte Amalie… for utilization of salt water… for sanitation and for fire-protection purposes… Water is pumped from the sea into a new concrete tank 250 feet above the town… two new power pumps with a capacity of 12,000 gallons an hour force it through a new network of pipes to homes for sewage and to hydrants for the fire protection purposes… to overcome the problem of rust corrosion by salt water in cast-iron pipes, PWA engineers put a concrete lining in 7,000 feet of water mains and 5,000 feet of sewers.”

The Civil Works Administration and the Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration carried out new road construction on Saltillo Road in Adjuntas.

A WPA press release from Dec. 1937 announced that "45 unemployed will be put to work on a flood control project in the Salzer Creek Valley, Lewis County, under a $10,965 allotment." The aim of the project was to improve the Lewis County Fairgrounds, now known as the Southwest Wash Fair.

"In 1926, the 63rd coastal artillery regiment moved from Santa Cruz, California, to an area just east of the town of Capitola. Its camp was named for Major Joseph P. McQuaide, who was born in 1867 at graduated from Santa Clara University. He served as Chaplain of the California National Guard in the Spanish American War and World War I, and died March 29, 1924. By 1938, noise from target practice annoyed Capitola residents, so a more remote place was found. 379 acres (1.53 km2) were purchased farther south, on coastal farmland near the town of Watsonville. The Works Progress...

This water reclamation plant was a New Deal project.