Water Supply – Asheville NC

Description

Two New Deal work relief programs: the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) were responsible for a massive project to improve and expand the water supply for Asheville. In addition to a dam and accompanying facilities at the North Fork / Burnett Reservoir, the project included extensive pipe work.

Asheville Citizen-Times:

“Begun Under CWA In 1933, Resumed By FERA In 1934

With completion of the North Pork water line project by forces of the North Carolina Emergency Relief administration recently, the supply of water from the North Fork watershed has been doubled.

The project consisted of the removal of eight and a half miles of 16-inch cast iron pipe from the Bee Tree watershed line, the transportation of this pipe to the North Fork watershed line, the relaying of the transported pipe parallel to the existing North Fork line …

Just east of Beaucatcher tunnel a tie line of 16-lnch pipe, 2,400 feet long, has been Installed by which it is now possible to carry water from either watershed to any of the reservoirs in the city.

300 Employed Daily

An average of 300 men received employment dally on the project. The greatest number employed at any one time per day was 962. During the pipe line work the dally average reached 900 men.