Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels Sites

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) constructed a 27-foot span carrying a road over a creek 2 1/2 miles northwest of Admire, Kansas. Geographically it is possible that this was the former bridge carrying U.S. 56 over Hill Creek.

A city sponsored Works Progress Administration (WPA) project (14752) dismantled a hazardous steel truss bridge crossing a drainage ditch in Clarendon. The WPA then excavated and widened the channel and built a new reinforced concrete slab over masonry substructure bridge. The construction of the bridge employed a number of skilled masons and cost a total of $12,050 to erect. The four span slab rests on stone piers, abutments and wing walls composed of rubble laid in irregular courses bonded with thick mortar joints. The bridge is in use and in good condition.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed a bridge on "Kehoe Road" in rural Greenup County, Kentucky, at the intersection of Highway 2/7 and Highway 784.

The concrete bridge constructed by the Works Progress Administration over the Hobolichitto Creek (also spelled Hobolochitto) was 100 feet wide and part of the county's farm to market road program. It was constructed 5 miles from McNeill for a cost of $6,304. It has since been replaced.

A bridge carrying a dirt county road over a creek south and east of Phillipsburg, Kansas was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1940, as identified by a plaque on the bridge. The bridge is "not named, on Sante Fe or Thunder , south and east of Phillipsburg." Based on the information and images available, Living New Deal thinks this may be a structure carrying Sante Fe Road over a creek bed just west of E 300 Road. However, more information is needed to confirm this.

A bridge construction project in Syracuse, Kansas was undertaken in 1936 with Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) funds. The exact location and status of the structure is unknown to Living New Deal. P.W.A. Docket No. Kansas 1202

"At Meeteetse the CWA built a bridge over the Greybull River for the simple reason that high water isolated the community from people it served. The local justification for the bridge explained, “A grave need exists for this bridge. It serves a rural community that is otherwise totally cut off from all means of travel to and from their homes during the flood or high-water period of the year and during the remainder of the year is forced to rely upon a temporary, unsafe and wholly satisfactory bridge. Most important of all, this bridge is depended upon to transport children...

"This road and drainage structure was erected at Lake Catherine State Park ...for the purpose of providing a passable roadbed for the construction of the main vehicular access road into the park" (Story, 1992). The bridge was constructed of stone walls and foundation with concrete lintel and deck by the 3777th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Arkansas District, stationed at Friendship, Arkansas. "This structure was constructed by the CCC as part of the overall plan to develop this site as a public park to be administered by the state of Arkansas"   (https://www.arkansaspreservation.com).

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 at the bridge approaches of what Living New Deal believes to be the former Reedy Point Bridge south of Delaware City. 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 Works Progress Administration (WPA) photo pictured here notes that this bridge replaced an old pratt truss structure that was "...badly damaged by the 1936 floods."  The photo is dated January 5, 1937. The Living New Deal does not know the present status or exact location of this project.  

The Bridge Street Bridge (originally known as the Chemung River Bridge) in Corning, New York was constructed as a federal Public Works Administration (PWA) project. The PWA provided a $119,437 grant for the project, whose total cost was $268,681. Construction occurred between Nov. 1936 and Dec. 1937. The bridge bears a PWA plaque. PWA Docket No. NY 1290-D.

The grade separation bridge on Bridge Street, on the south side of Minnesota City, was constructed as a Federal Aid Project in 1940.

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...

The Bridge to Nowhere in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Azusa, CA, did originally lead somewhere. It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1936 as an alternate route to Wrightwood through the Angeles National Forest. However, the East Fork Road was still under construction when it was washed out by flooding in March 1938, leaving only the bridge standing. The Bridge to Nowhere, now accessible only by foot or horseback, is a popular site for bungee jumping.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Brighton Avenue in Neptune and Wall Townships, a $92,756 project. WPA Official Project Number: 265‐1‐22‐129

The federal Civil Works Administration (C.W.A.) funded the labor for some paving work of Brighton Road in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The CCC assisted in the development of this state forest. From Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: "This rustic shelter is the only one of its type still remaining. Dingley Dell Dam was another important CCC project at this forest, where there are many CCC camp buildings still remaining."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Broad Branch Road NW, from Twenty-seventh Street to Grant Road. This was a “roadside beautification” project, described as follows: “Inspection of this project from time to time showed that, due to heavy rains, the banks on the branch side of this road were washing and scoring. So that in addition to seeding and shrubbery planting, numerous concrete spillways were constructed on the branch side of the roadway.”  

Five Suffolk County highway beautification projects, directed by the WPA, put approximately 1,000 men to work for seven months beginning April 1936. The projects included "the Broad Hollow road from Huntington to Amityville."

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paved 34 streets in Hartford, Connecticut, including the 0.6-mile stretch of Broad Street from New Britain Avenue to Maple Avenue, as part of a $2.5 million, two-year paving project begun in 1937. The federal government contributed $1 million.

Broadway Auditorium in Buffalo, New York was improved substantially ca. 1936 by federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. 150 men were put to work as part of this effort. The building now serves as a municipal Streets Department warehouse.

The Works Progress Administration completed road improvements on Broadway Avenue. The work included “Stone-basing and surfacing Broadway Avenue.” The exact location of this project is unknown to the Living New Deal. The name of Broadway Avenue has changed.

A Boston Public Works Department report cited Federal Emergency Relief Administration (F.E.R.A.) labor as conducting the following work: "Broadway Bridge was chipped, cleaned and painted." Spanning Fort Point Channel, the bridge has since been demolished as the area has been redeveloped with highways built.

The federal Work Projects Administration worked to improve Broadway in Long Beach, New York during the 1930s. One project called for the "surfacing constructing sidewalks, curbs, and leaching basins."

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved Broadway in Saranac Lake, New York, including replacing brick paving with concrete and reconstructing its sidewalks.

The federal Works Progress Administration paved Broadway in Camden, New Jersey between Federal Street and the city line at Newton Creek. The project took 242 man-hours of work and required 4,000 tons of material.

Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) laborers repaved Broadway in Chelsea, Mass.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including the stretch of Broadway St. (then simply Broadway) between Mason St. and Davis St.

The bridge carrying Broadway Street over Coop Creek east of Mansfield, Arkansas, was constructed by the Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.) in 1940.

The Civil Works Administration conducted improvement work on Broadway in Homewood, Alabama. CWA Project No. 37-C-79. Work began Nov. 20, 1933; 90% complete as of Mar. 31, 1934.

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) supplied labor for the widening of Broadway Street in Asheville, North Carolina. The cost of the project was $26,209.30, which was mostly borne by the federal government. Furthermore, the CWA supplied $5,225.31 in labor for the resurfacing of Broadway Street. "In Asheville, Biltmore Street, Merrimon Avenue, and Broadway were widened by taking off fronts of all stores, setting them back, and rebuilding, work requiring expert skill."

"Brockway Mountain Drive is a 8.883-mile (14.296 km) scenic highway just west of Copper Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. Drivers can access the road from state highway M-26 on either end near Eagle Harbor to the west or Copper Harbor to the east in the Keweenaw Peninsula. The drive runs along the ridge of Brockway Mountain on the Keweenaw Fault and climbs to 1,320 feet (402 m) above sea level, 720 feet (220 m) above the surface of Lake Superior. Several viewpoints along the route allow for panoramas of Copper Harbor, Lake Superior, and undeveloped woodland. On...

The federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) put many men to work starting in 1935 with street repair and maintenance projects that improved roads throughout the Bronx. The work pictured here shows WPA laborers on the Bronx Boulevard construction project.  

The Triborough Bridge is one of three major bridges, along with the Henry Hudson and the Bronx-Whitestone, built during the New Deal era to link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, and tie together the expanding highway system in and out of New York City.  Robert Moses was the master planner of New York from the 1920s to the 1920s, and one of Moses' seats of power was the Triborough Bridge Authority, which built this and other bridges. Moses used New Deal funds liberally to build the projects he had in mind for the city. But he did not...

In 1936-37, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved a segment of Brookland Avenue NE between Michigan Avenue to Bates Road. WPA improved this road with recycled material and the “laying of a thin blanket of bituminous material.” Also, “this project required a fill of about 10 feet at the Michigan Avenue end, due to the necessity for raising the grade at this location in connection with the construction of the Michigan Avenue viaduct.”

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, officially known as the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, runs under the East River to connect lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. The tunnel was begun in 1940 with PWA and Reconstruction Finance Corporation Funds, though it was not completed until until 1950: "The total cost of the tunnel and the attendant roadways was $105 million. La Guardia knew the city was incapable of financing the project so he dunned the Reconstruction Finance Corporation chief Jesse Jones, a Houston millionaire and Roosevelt confidant, for the funding. La Guardia's hopes of obtaining approval for government assistance were probably based in no small...

The Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) "constructed a new entrance to Brookside Drive" in Amherst, Ohio.

Two Works Progress Administration concrete pedestrian bridges built over the Arroyo Seco flood control channel in the Brookside Golf Course next to the Rose Bowl.

Brownville Bridge, which carries U.S. 136 over the Missouri River between Nebraska and Missouri, was constructed as a Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project. Constructed in 1938-1939, the now-free bridge originally featured tolls.

The federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) worked to improve many roads in San Francisco, including Brunswick St. "Consisted of excavation and disposal of 3,550 cubic yards of earth and rock, making available for use a hitherto ungraded street from Allison to Concord Street, the same as Silver Avenue."--Healy, p. 44.